On the Unbeaten Path
by HashiriyaR32
Summary: The arrival of a mystery Mitsubishi Starion suprises Takumi and the rest of Project D. NOW AT CHAPTER 21!
1. Chapter 1: The Biggest Scare

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 1: The Biggest Scare**  
It was another mid-summer morning at the residence of the Fujiwara Tofu shop... if you could call it morning just yet. The small alarm clock next to Takumi's bed, in its dim, orange illumination, had one hand almost on 4, and the other square in the 9. In other words, 3:45 AM... fifteen minutes from the tofu delivery time. The entire town of Haruna seemed almost silent at this hour in the morning. - Almost. Usually is, except, in the distance, there was the very faint roar of an engine in the distance - and light squealing. A car in the distance. But who, who at this hour in the morning, would be awake, let alone tearing up the mountain pass?

-

The upshifts were at a relatively low RPM; just 6,000 revolutions per minute were needed before the car was thrown into yet another seemingly violent upshift, the engine sneezing at the release of the accelerator; it was turbo, yes. No doubt about its presence as the whir became a furious howl, the boost pressure gauge jumping up to 25 PSI. The exhaust note seemed to be a deep, muscular big-bore engine... but a 4-cylinder, offering this kind of response? The man behind the wheel, though, was quite satisfied. Hell, he was laughing almost hysterically as with a viscous turn-in, he hugged the inner apex with his choice of machinery.

"The response has improved drastically... it almost eliminates the need for anti-lag!"

Was the helmeted driver right? Flipping a switch, he dove into the next corner, almost kamikaze-like, as the engine repeatedly "backfired", small flames erupting from the muffler, and the boost gauge maintaining nearly 7 PSI before he clicked the switch off upon upshifting off the corner, the car's rear tires chirping under the load, the machine shooting right off the corner, this time with _zero_ hesitation... though, in comparison, to the amateur's eyes, it'd be hard to tell the time loss with the anti-lag turned off. The modification was _that_ good. There was one more hairpin to take on... no, wait, just a moment - hairpin cleared. The driver let off the accelerator, a satisfied grin on his face, knowing the money he dumped into the car was indeed put to good use. Perhaps, its true potential only obtainable through the most skilled drivers, but money well spent, nevertheless.

-

Well, it was about that time again. The alarm clock in Takumi's bedroom was starting to buzz, waking the teenager up from an otherwise deep slumber. Taking a yawn, Takumi slowly stretched in bed, hitting the snooze button and crawling out of his bed, finally opening his eyes, knowing exactly what his job was. Takumi followed through with his daily ritual of washing his face off and freshening his teeth up with a good dose of mouthwash, before throwing on a white tee and pair of shorts... and sandals. It didn't exactly look five-star, but it was only for making the delivery, anyways. Takumi finally made his way down the stairs, in a bit of a lazy march, before the not-so-mellow rumble of an old friend of his caught his ear. He looked at his pops, giving Bunta a bit of a suprised look as he took the cup of water slowly from his hands.

"You... fixed it?", Takumi asked, his eyes darting to the door then back to his Dad.

"Yeah... no use in it sitting around.", Bunta said, crossing his arms, his favorite brand of cigarette already lit and emitting a thin trail of smoke rising up above the old driver's head. "It wasn't like it was a major issue, either. so I just fixed it yesterday." Takumi smiled a bit at his father, happy and suprised with the unexpected gesture.

"Thanks." Takumi turned his attention back out the door, soon making his way to his beloved AE86, looking at it... almost feeling surreal. It wasn't like Takumi totaled the car during the race with God Hand, but still... he felt very bad over the fact he pushed the car farther than it wanted to go. But there it sat, in a proper stance, its two headlights folded out and brightly lit. The car looked ready for the next tofu run, ready as ever. Hell - its paint even shined a bit more than usual, that being chalked up to Bunta giving it a quick wax while he was at it. Takumi, slightly enlightened that he'd have a break once again from driving the WRX, was more than happy to slip into its welcoming cockpit, buckle his seatbelt, release the parking brake, and drive right off... the drive, as normal, getting, in any normal person's books, exhilarating once he was completely on the side road - the mountain pass, rather.

As usual, he imagined an imaginary WRX leading him on almost, the ghost car that he seemed to forever be behind on the uphill run, corner by corner... knowing now that everything he did to gain on the Impreza on today's run would just further distance himself from the 86 the next morning. He was aware he was approaching the 86's limit as a car, knew it very well... but refused to give up. Because, he could see now, that it's as important - if not more important - for the driver to be capable to win, not just the car. And the 86... the 86 felt fine. Takumi easily dropped the car into the gutter without damaging the tofu around the 5 Hairpins... something that was easy to do in his books, almost impossible to just about anyone else. He followed that very course turn-by-turn as he continued his "careful" driving uphill. He always seemed to catch one detail or another at the slightly slower pace he drove uphill, and would use it to his advantage driving downhill.

Takumi accepted the small tip as he closed the hatchback of the Trueno soon after, climbing back into his car and throwing the shifter back into first gear, revving up and burning out of the parking lot, converting it into a bit of a showy powerslide, leaving a trail of black rubber and smoke in the car's wake, the 86 now headed back downhill at top speed. Takumi wasn't sure why he decided to get showy this morning... he just sort of felt like doing that. Breaking slightly from tradition... that kind of stuff. It did leave the guy who handled the tofu slightly confused, though - Fujiwara usually left a bit more quietly than that. Takumi kept the gas pinned to the floorboard through the first two 'bends', but the brakes were then applied on the first hard bend, a left-hander, now going into full downhill-assault mode. Corner by corner, he felt the car's repaired suspension out... all felt fine. But, something startling would happen as he broke into a semi-drift around a semi-hairpin midway down the pass.

In this small complex section where the tight corner was immediately followed by a double-chicane, stood a figure. Motionless in the dead center of the corner, Takumi's eyes widened. It was _a person!_ But... _here!? Now!?_ Takumi had to think quick, especially considering the person wasn't moving at all. If he didn't somehow change his course of travel, Takumi would surely add some grim red accents to his otherwise panda black-and-white nose of his beloved Trueno.

_To be continued..._

a Dorifuta fanfic

**Author's notes**  
- Chapter 10, the character Karie Sandars is used with permission by her original creator, TheFadedSeraph.  
-Chapter 13, Espirit-Chan is another character of The Faded Seraph's creation. Much thanks to her.


	2. Chapter 2: His Name is Akiyuki

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 2: His Name is Akiyuki**  
"He's driving the eight-six today..."

It only took a second for him to figure that out from the note of the exhaust as the young man watched the "start line" of what was the uphill course of Haruna Hill. An eager eye carefully observed the entire sequence of the Eight-six in action, watching as the shadows of the rock-side in the early morning air were slowly blinded away by the growing headlight beams, then shifted to focus on the car itself. A black sign was on one side - the driver's side - that read "Fujiwara Tofu Shop (PRIVATE VEHICLE)". Yes, it was his car all right. And the right time, as well... 4:06 AM, right on the dot for this portion of the pass. For some, it would be hard to believe that the tofu run started at 4 AM sharp and ended at 4:15... but not this man. He _saw_, with his own two eyes, what that old dated Corolla hatchback was exactly capable of. ...and it more than impressed him.

The boy popped the clutch in, turning the ignition key, the car's reverse light coming immediately on. That wasn't surprising, though - he preferred parking in gear instead of using the parking brake. Pulling out of the lot, he pointed the nose of the car, which sported a black-colored triple-diamond logo, in the general direction of uphill. Grabbing for second gear, the driver started a slow, upward march up the mountain pass, studying the course once again, and taking note of a few corners that he misjudged and drove "too easy". The gutter also caught his eye as he made his way along the little mountain pass road, along with a few damaged sections of guardrail. Two, to be exact. And a bouquet of flowers still at either of them, along with a cross.

The graves of Hideo Sato and Takumi Sato, grandfather and father of the current-day Formula 1 legend... among Japanese drivers, anyways. He slowed his pace to look at the two of them, paying a bit of respect to either of the two, before finally coming to a rest at the "desired" corner, while he walked another 200 feet or so up the road, the car was at least safe there. Besides, why risk wrecking a car he already knew he would hop right back into once the task was completed?

-

Takumi almost froze in fear as from one extreme end of his windshield appeared a figure standing in the dead center of the road, one shoe on either of the two yellow lines that were supposed to designate seperate lanes... although Takumi usually ignored that. What Takumi _couldn't'_ ignore, however, was the fact he was about to kill somebody. He _almost_ froze in fear - almost being the key word. But at the moment was displayed before whoever may be watching - the almost object-like person standing in the middle of the road, in this case - the very unique gift... no, one of many unique gifts, that Takumi possessed.

Time didn't freeze, no... it slowed down, and in Takumi's head, he was able to quickly assess a line of "attack" - although in this case defense - to pursue, and followed suit in his almost unnatural manner. Quadruple-modulating the gas, brake, clutch, and steering, Takumi was able to let the car suddenly drift astray from its current course, being able to slide wide of the person and just barely miss him... although it was merely a defensive reaction, with no further plan of course... so, for only the second time on Haruna in nearly 5 years, Takumi found himself staring at the path he just traveled. He saw, clear as daylight, the person who was just observing him, having turned around as the 86 passed... nothing the previous emotionless expression fading away as the boy's thin-stitched lips slowly curved upward into a smirk... perhaps, even, a small grin.

The figure made his way towards the now silent 86, noting Takumi was so startled that he forgot to hold the clutch out, thus stalling the 86 in its place. Not like it mattered. At about the same time, Takumi  
finally release the almost-crushing pressure on the brake pedal, his eyes slightly dialated, and cloudy. The slide itself - the full, four-wheel braking stop - brought him back 9 months, where the emergency slide was the result of his engine giving. The tire smoke that Takumi's nose caught a whiff was, through his internal time machine, transformed into the smell of burning oil, and Takumi's vision of the man was blurred by an imaginary cloud of white smoke.

_Snap out of it!_, Takumi thought to himself. While Takumi's heart was still pounding as he faded out of the flashback and back into reality. He flicked the key to the start position, and the 20-valve turned over and gathered itself right back up, idling as roughly and eagerly as ever. Takumi then cut the ignition, taking a second to pull the e-brake and also take a few breaths, before finally slipping out of his panda hatchback and confronting the bystander. His poise was really screwed up, but he tried as hard as he could to sound concerned and irritated.

"Hey! What are you doing standing there in the middle of the road!? You could have died!"

Takumi let out another sigh - patting the hood of his 86, still caught between the past and the present, making _sure_ it wasn't coated in a thin layer of used engine oil. But, nope, it wasn't. Takumi spent the next second or so shaking his head a few times - not at the pedestrian himself, but over how thrown back he was over the whole ordeal. Still, the young man - almost kid-ish - replied in a manner that completely caught him off guard.

"...but I knew I wasn't going to die."

The boy chuckled very lightly, taking half a step towards both Takumi and his Eight-Six. Takumi seemed to tower over the very thin and short... well, not rediculously short, but only 5' 2"... figure of the person who gave Takumi one of his nastiest scares to date. "Not with you behind the wheel, at least, Fujiwara-san."

Takumi gave the figure a bit of an uncertain glance before turning his head to face him directly, the headlights of his Trueno mainly illuminating the surrounding area, and the two of them. It was then that Takumi could easily see the boy's almost mop-like hairdo, his greenish-brown hair and eyes that seemed to match it perfectly. Those calm, cool, observant eyes, that, in the way he watched Takumi, closely resembled Takumi's mentor, no other than Ryousuke Takahashi. But his demeanor was definitely different.

"...how'd you know what my name was?"

This was very unusual to Takumi, having someone acknowledge him by his name before they exchanged names, because, Takumi was used to being almost laughed at, and not taken seriously. Let alone anyone directly stating his driving ability.

"...because I saw you race the 959 in person. You're talented perhaps even more than me. It was exhilarating to watch you keep up with the old pro. I was more than impressed, Fujiwara. The name's Akiyukli Suzaki. Pleasure to meet you, Fujiwara."

Akiyuki then held out a hand to the young driver, giving Fujiwara a completely content, honest smile. It was a uniquely different approach compared to anyone else he's ever faced... although Takumi did wonder if this was even going to result in a match. Takumi slowly shook the boy's hand, still taking note of his features.

"T... thank you..." 

It was also the first time Takumi ever was complimented about his driving by anyone he's challenged before he begun. The fact that this kid was almost suicidal, just standing before Takumi's charging Hachi-Roku, suddenly seemed irrelevant. Takumi already had a level of respect for this driver, because his... his ways... were similar to his own, and unlike anyone else Takumi's met before. To be honest, Takumi was downright curious about this mysterious person who didn't flair his team colors, didn't cockily challenge Takumi, didn't do anything besides lay down all there was to see about him before Takumi's eyes, in a calm and friendly manner.

"Uhm, Akiyuki... did you _walk_ this far?"

Akyuki chuckled just a small bit, shaking his head, before thumbing in the direction Takumi was in. It was a simple enough gesture.

"The Lizard is a little bit beyond our view... mind walking a few hundred feet?

"The... lizard... uhm, sure..."

Akiyuki suppressed a laugh, covering his mouth with his hand.

"The Lizard is my car... let's go."

Takumi nodded, and followed Akiyuki to the machine... before, kind of stopping as he overlooked the car. It seemed vaugely familiar, yet... a little different from any other car he's seen. And it had a carbon-fiber ho- ...no, the hood wasn't carbon fiber, just painted flat black. And the matching black stripe that rand down the side of the car, right on the belt line. In fact, Takumi has seen the paintjob somewhere, he just couldn't place where.

"Uhm... what kind of car is that?"

Akiyuki chuckled softly, as he turned to face the hood of his car, removing the two hoodpins.

"What kind of car? Well, I'm not surprised you've never heard of it before... it isn't exactly a car with a huge fan base..."

Akiyuki propped the hood up, before revealing its model name to Takumi.


	3. Chapter 3: This Starion is Insane!

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 3: This Starion is Insane!**  
Akiyuki was more than happy to lead Takumi a short distance down the empty backroad of the Haruna Pass as daylight began to break, to his black-and-green ride of choice. The car sat there, silent as ever, as if waiting for Akiyuki to instruct it further. Takumi never saw such a vehicle before, which was a bit of a suprise; for all purposes and intentions the car was clearly that of the 1980's era... fastback, with a wedge-like nose, 5-spoke chrome and black wheels tha tlooked like they were factory rims, but also a very distinctive green color. Not quite "Lizard"-shade, as Akiyuki called the car itself, but definately green.

"It's a Mitsubishi Starion, Fujiwara.", Akiyuki said, his eyes making direct contact with Takumi's.

Yes, it was an interseting car - it seemed to be a mix of Ryousuke's FC and his own 86, in Takumi's eyes. Although, he gave Akiyuki a bit of a confused look when he laid eyes on some of the engine's parts. It was definately a turbo, yes... but, its shape mimiced an engine he'd seen before, somewhere. But, at the moment, Takumi was coming back to his _real_ senses, and he spoke directly to Akiyuki with a bit of a cutting tone.

"Just why did you stand in the road, anyway?", Takumi curiously asked. "If you really wanted my attention this bad, you could have just flashed your lights and put on your signals, or even wave me down at a straightaway... not in the middle of a curve!"

Akiyuki let out that very calm chuckle of his own, his eyes veering off Takumi's for a second before he dipped his head downward, shaking his head lightly from side to side. e squared back up at Takumi, before leaning a bit to one side, still seeing one corner of the Trueno around the bend.

"You still don't get it, do you? Why I stood there was also why I complimented you the second you got out of your car." Akiyuki took a few paces to the right of where his Starion sat, coming to a stop in the middle of the road. He pointed his index finger in the uphill direction as he sideglanced at Takumi, the young street racer's eyes fixated on what seemed to be a senior to him, in at least one respect.

"Coming around a blind corner like this one and switching directions almost instantly is difficult enough, not many people could do it. But - from what I heard by a friend of yours, you do that on a daily basis... extremely easily, I might add. That's not typical street racer material."

Akiyuki traced with his fingers a mid-air line that mimiced the Trueno hatchback's entry into the corner, its apex approach, and finally the exit. Akiyuki would face Takumi directly again, this time with a single eyebrow raised.

"That's the line you took, right?", he asked, wanting to be sure Fujiwara was following along alright. Takumi nodded once, as Akiyuki then pointed square down on the pavement, to where he was standing.

"Considering how familiar with the cours ewas, I knew I placed myself at a point in the course where you were using a slight inertial drift technique to transition from one corner to the next almost flawlessly... your odds of hitting me or avoiding me mid-slide and ending up hitting either barrier were between 50 and 95, depending on who views such a scenario. But I was feeling optimistic... I kind of _knew_ you could pull it off before ever climbing out of The Lizard, if that makes sense to you, Fujiwara-san."

Takumi nodded in repliance, before turning himself to face what would be where the 86 always barrelled downhill at kamikaze-like ferocity, scratching his chin with his index finger. You could almost see the gears turning in the developing racer's head, before he looked to Akiyuki once more.

"Yeah, I guess I was capable of doing that... but you gave me a nasty scare, and at the same point in time, triggered a bit of a nasty flashback. It was so by suprise that my mind almost jammed up. You really could have died", Takumi said to Akiyuki, almost crimacing at the thought. "It totally caught me off guard and forced me to resort to trying something that I never attempted before." Takumi let off a bit of a sigh, his heartrate finally at ease from the sudden shock, watching as the sun was about ready to crest over the mountaintop and cast its shine of all of Gunma.

"...Exactly, Fujiwara-san. Is that not how you've managed to defeat almost every other driver that's crossed your path?"

Takumi fell silent for a minute... maybe two. In his mind played back every race, from the insane match against the 959 all the way back to that summer night just over a year ago, when it was an almost easy pass on the yellow RX-7 driven by the man that would eventually become Takumi's teammate. In just about every match, Takumi had to attempt something new or deviate from his normal driving habits in order to overtake the leading car - and, on a few occasions, most of them recent, actually had to counter-attack an overtake on him.

"Yes... that is correct, Akiyuki." Takumi was suprised that anyone aside from Ryousuke could know as much about him as his own mentor did... aside from his own Dad, of course, that crazy old man that he was. In just about every way, shape, and form, Akiyuki just -radiated- knowledge, or, at the least, was excellent at adding two and two.

"So, in a sense, you've already defeated me, Fujiwara. It's a very loose, metaphorical concept, but if beating an opponent merely requires trying something you've never tried before and successfully accomplishing it, then you've already defeated me before I even challenged you. Or, rather - that _was_ a quick, sweet match." Akiyuki chuckled softly as he leaned against the light metallic paint of his Starion, watching the expression on Takumi's face with a bit of amusement. Akiyuki closed the hood then, figuring that perhaps what he wanted Takumi to see could only be felt from the seat of his pants.

"How about you take my car for a spin after parking the 86 somewhere safe?", Suzaki suggested. Takumi blinked as he stared at Akiyuki for a curious second, before observing the car once more.

"Uhm... I don't often drive cars aside from the 86, Akiy-" ...Takumi was cut off mid-sentance by Akiyuki, who would cross his arms after securing the left-side hoodpin on the Starion, facing him directly. "What about the WRX?"

Well, that put Takumi in a jam, surely. It also left him confused. Yes, the Tofu Shop sticker was right on the side of his hatchback, but did the driver actually _observe_ Takumi driving the Impreza a few days before he approached him? It was a good week since the match against Joushima, which did give the boy some time to watch the tofu runs, if he knew the right hour to keep his eyes open... and apparently, he did.

"You... know I drive the WRX?", Takumi simply asked straight-up to Suzaki, and he would reply just as quickly, nodding. "It's a logical assumption", Akiyuki noted, his arms falling back to his sides as a small breeze blew his hair, and then the sun's first ray of light hit the two. "I knew that the Corolla had a mechanical failure during the race, and was temporarily out of commision, and I saw the Impreza parked at the tofu shop. I figured you also owned that, and drove it for fun. It _is_ a pretty fun car to drive - easy to drive, too."

And that was the first thing that Akiyuki would be wrong at. Takumi shook his head in disapproval, then glanced off to the side, slightly embarassed. "Well... not exactly", Takumi replied, in a bit of a flustered tone. "The Impreza is actually my father's... he just lets me deliver tofu with it. But otherwise, I rarely drive the Impreza." Akiyuki blinked for a second, more than slightly suprised. After all, Ryousuke Takahashi _did_ fund the team all on his own, so he figured that Ryousuke also gave Takumi the Impreza to help master an AWD vehicle - or perhaps Takumi even purchased it with his own money. Small chance of that, but... He was wrong. Which was okay to him; people do make mistakes, after all.

"Oh... my apologies, Fujiwara-san. It's still great that you have a chance to drive the Impreza... a bit of a shame that you don't race with it in Project.D. I mean..." Akiyuki made direct eye contact with Takumi, not quite understanding that while Takumi was _fairly_ car-smart these days, he wasn't still up to par with some of the more mechanical drivers, such as that other 86 driver... Wataru, his name was? Akiyuki thought that was right, anyways. "...I mean, I assumed that you preferred not to explore new tuning approaches with the Trueno, and instead just completely upgraded to the Impreza."

"...new tuning approaches?", Takumi asked, now in a completely confused state. To Takumi, there was already some _very unorthodox and unique_ tuning applied to his car, giving it a character of its own... something that Takumi loved for the longest time and still, despite almost losing any desire to drive the Trueno after hot-lapping the Impreza for its first time, enjoyed a lot. "Just what do you mean, Akiyuki-san?" Akiyuki knew now that his initial perception was right, and Takumi _would_ have to experience it for himself. He walked slowly around the Starion, intentionally stalling Fujiwara, until he opened the driver's door. "Meet me at the top of this pass in the scenic parking lot, and I'll give you an oppurtunity to see what I mean."

Without giving Takumi a chance to answer, he fired the Starion up and proceeded to drive up to the mountaintop. Takumi walked back to his AE86, and climbed in, following the Starion's trail of sound and faded brake lights up the mountainside, until he reached the lot that Akiyuki mentioned. Takumi climbed out, and surely enough, the Starion was before him, Akiyuki already in the passenger's seat. Takumi took the Trueno's keys with him, having a feeling he'd either ride along or drive the Starion. Akiyuki hand-cranked down his window, thumbing to the driver's seat.

"Get in and drive."

Takumi still wasn't quite sure what the point of this would be, but he felt slightly eager... to learn. He knew there had to be something to be learned from the way Suzaki talked, and so that was what drove Takumi to slide into the Starion's slightly more comfortable than the 86, anyways driver's seat, and buckle his seatbelt, soon looking over the dashboard. Being in where the passenger seat would normally be, it felt unusual to have the shifter at his right hand's command, as opposed to the usual left-hand shifting. Takumi paused for a moment, eyeing the custom-fabricated instruemnt panel - a slew of aftermarket gauges slotted into cut-outs on a sheet of black-painted aluminum - and canting his head to the side.

"What's the matter?", Akiyuki asked, him eyeing _fujiwara_ almost the way Takumi blankly stared at the tachometer.

"There's no speedometer...", Takumi said, not being able to make out any speedometer dial anywhere. He also noticed the tachometer only reached 8,000 RPM, and there was no marked redline. "...and the tach doesn't have a redline."

Akiyuki chuckled a little harder than usual to just how Takumi was thrown off by the only mildly unorthodox interior. He pointed his index finger at a small rectangular LCD display that was currently blank, showing no reading of anything. "Turn the key and start the engine", Akiyuki said, obviously already knowing what the display was for. Takumi followed suit, and after flashing '888' for a few seconds on the screen, a '0' appeared on the green backlit display, and below that, black text, that read 'km/h'.

"There's your speedometer...", he finally said as Takumi blinked, before pressing a small black button next to it, the 'km/h' switching to 'MPH', the unit now ready to read in imperial units. He switched it back to the kph reading before pointing slightly up and left to the tachometer, at a small reflective circle - perhaps a display light - and explaining the answer to Takumi's second question. "...and there's your red line, sort to speak. It lights up at the desired shift point and flashes rapidly when the engine speed is critical."

It was different, but Takumi would cope, as he eyed all of the gauges that remained; voltage, water temperature, boost, oil pressure, fuel level, and oil temperature. Takumi then released the parking brake and slotted the selector into reverse, noting how 'notchy' the shifter was... kind of like switching a circuit breaker on or off... and slowly releasing the clutch. He tried not to gasp when he felt the clutch was actually slightly _grabbier_ than his AE86's, before pulling out, and pointing the car in the general direction of downhill. Takumi was tense... something was about to happen. Something _big_, and he could feel it. Akiyuki could, as well, as he measured his own heart rate - quite higher than usual. But Suzaki's poise was very calm, and he even chuckled as the car rolled in first gear at near idle.

"The second you shift into second, Fujiwara, you're going to feel something you've never experienced before. So _go_!" Takumi did, the rear tires chirping as the engine roared to life completely, the deep growl of the 4" exhaust system sending a very different sound echoing off the mountainside walls. At just past 6,000 RPM, Takumi saw the shift light illuminate and grabbed for second gear. So far, the turbo four felt like a bit of a superhyper, torquier version of Itsuki's 3A-C, but when he shifted into second, the tachometer dropping all the way down to 4,000 RPM, and floored the gas, he felt _it_.

Takumi's eyes shot wide open, as he felt for the first time what Akiyuki was hinting at before. _What the...!?_, he thought to himself. **_This kick!_** Takumi grabbed for third gear, Akiyuki revealing a slight grin from passenger's seat as he saw Takumi's startled expression. Fujiwara felt it again... two things, this time. _The gear spacing is very wide, but that's not what's important... this kick... what the hell's wrong with this engine!?_

TO BE CONTINUED……..


	4. Chapter 4: It's Not About Horsepower

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 4: It's Not About Horsepower... per se.**

Takumi sat blank-eyed from within the black Recaro driver's seat, looking dimly at the path on Haruna Hill leading uphill. The Starion he drove in pulled an about-face after an unexpected reaction on the corner's exit. No - it wasn't _unexpected_, per se... only uncontrollable.

That kick. That strange 'power kick', as Takumi called it.

It was a strange kick that occured briefly after Takumi stepped on the accelerator. The engine responded... then, responded _again_; at least, that was the math that Takumi broke it down into. An initial response was given as he applied the gas... about the same amount of power his 86 had. But then, there was a _second surge..._ an extreme and brutal deliverance of power that occured, despite the fact the car was only pulling 4,500 RPM on the corner's exit. It was extreme as dropping the clutch from a standstill high-rev start, and it was, in its own sense, very, _very_ mellowing to the likes of Fujiwara... Takumi, at least.

-

_The gear spacing is very wide, but that's not what's important... this kick... what the hell's wrong with this engine!?_ Takumi gripped the gear selector and threw the car into fourth gear, slightly dazed at the engine's rediculous response as he was, even at that speed, a little thrown back in his seat a second after upshifting. Takumi knew something was peculiar just for the fact the car was turbocharged... but Takumi's driven a turbocharged car. No, two, three even. Itsuki's 85, his father's Impreza, and even Iketani's S13... but _none_ of them had this neck-snapping... or traction-destroying... response. They had a bit of a progressive - by comparison, at least - come-on, and the effect was less extreme from the point he stepped onto the gas pedal to the point the power was packaged, sealed, and sent directly to the Pirellis, Birdgestones, or whatever brand of tire those cars were wearing.

Takumi saw the corner approaching, and nervously eased off the gas - tapping the brakes a little, even. The speed was very extreme, by comparison, to the 86... and merely 'just' extreme in comparison to the Impreza...but that shouldn't have been a big problem for Fujiwara, right? Takumi's witnessed a 350 and a 380 horsepower accelerate, and the speed they had to enter the corners, and Takumi was also quite used to the kamikaze approach that he almost always took into corners, no matter what car he might have been piloting. Yet, still... why was Takumi hesitating long before he even drove the corner? It was probably because he caught Akiyuki's concerned glance, that slightly nervous look as he was, in a way, observing Fujiwara's very keen inputs... but the problem here was, there was almost nothing keen about this. Akiyuki, about 3 seconds before the actual turn-in, gave Takumi a simple recommendation;

"Try to stay a gear above what you usually use, Fujiwara, and be careful on the exit.", Suzaki clearly stated, and Takumi gave him a side-glance that said to Akiyuki, _what would be the use of that?_ To the instruction of keeping the car a gear up, anyways. Well, that much Takumi followed, on his usual late-braking and barely more-careful mid-corner modulation. Yet once again, Takumi was quite floored by the nature of the car's response, how it so smoothly handled the apex of the corner, seemingly not willing to spin, yet, not wanting to understeer, either... a very neutral set-up that seemed to be a perfect balance between the understeery exit nature of the Impreza and the loose, or oversteery, exit nature of the Trueno's suspension tuning. So Takumi thought he was in the clear, when he initiated his somewhat late throttle application. _Thought_ he was, until the engine 'kicked' again, braking the rear tire's traction, and forcing Takumi to counter-steer, but...

-

Akiyuki sat idle in the passenger's seat beside Takumi, slightly shaking his head to Takumi only listening to him in a bit of a half-ass kind of sense. Well, it was Fujiwara's own way... drive quite extreme all the way to the car's maximum potential immediately, as opposed to progressively feeling the car out - what most drivers would do. It was a thing about Fujiwara that kind of drew Akiyuki in, a very curious trait. It made him ponder if Takumi was concerned much about his own life - or if he was perhaps unaware of the dangers that lie within racing. Still, at least Takumi didn't wreck his precious little Lizard - the car that he and his sister put a total of 7 years into slowly transforming from a base-model 2.6 into the monster that it is today. He would sit in ponder for a few seconds, arms crossed as he let his heart rate settle a bit. Somehow he knew _that_ was inevitable, but still, it gave Suzaki quite the scare. Although, he noticed Takumi was quite disheartened spinning out on Haruna's first real corner.

That was Akiyuki's cue, in a sense. The way he watched Takumi the short time reminded him of his own past being - and also, part of what he is today. Hell, his _own_ reaction to his newest upgrade was merely a diluted version of _that_ - merely for the fact that he knew just what to expect... but Fujiwara-san over there? Yeaaaaah... no. Takumi was clueless, shocked, and now at the moment, frustrated and confused. Something that Akiyuki intended to rid him of, and fast. Akiyuki gave Takumi a small elbow, masterfully restraining the wide grin he wanted to show at the situation, giving an expression of consolation.

"It's alright...", Akiyuki admited, sounding himself downright unmotivated.Takumi looked from down at the steering wheel to Akiyuki, in slight confusion.

"What's alright?", Takumi asked, a bit curious... almost instantly, even.

"It's alright that you can't drive the Starion...", Suzaki replied, eyes veering to his own instrument panel. "It's not something I was hoping you'd make record time with, anyways. You did a good job with the entry and didn't wreck... that's all I can ask for." Akiyuki even feintly smiled. He knew this was the little extra push Fujiwara needed... he could see it in his eyes.

"..."

Takumi sat there for a second, silence almost completely overcoming the car- spare for a single bird chirping outside in the morning air. Takumi took another long sigh, befre his eyes set themselves on the car's rear-view mirror, looking in the direction that he _should_ be going. He then asked Akiyuki another simple question.

"...can I try again?"

-

Keisuke kicked the guardrail with a fairly violent force, causing a few chips of rusted metal to fall to the ground. Glaring fiercely down, he was so aggrovated that that green car he saw slipped from his sight and he couldn't catch it. Most likely, it was going to fast that even getting the FD up to speed wouldn't compensate for the distance between the two. The car looked like an unusual standout, not the body style or color that is usually the norm these days. But his brother Ryousuke had heard about it before, yes. Heard a lot about it; 'a green RWD sports car piloted by a would-be rally star that chose low profility over the profit of being a top-level race car'. And supposedly he also had a sister who _was_ big in motorsports, not that long ago.

"Son of a btch must have a lot of horsepower", he muttered, looking to his brother. The funny part was that driver brought the old Keisuke out of him, the small chase into the Haruna area having been lost 20 or so minutes ago. Keisuke knew damn well, he didn't like losing, official race or not. And he viewed this as a small loss. "He's playing with me, dammit! Who the hell is he!?"

"Calm down, Keisuke. You're not acting how I've taught you to act." Taking a drag from his cigarette, Ryousuke glanced up at the sky, before giving Keisuke a bit of a dirty look. "You have no buisness getting your emotions stirred up over a Starion that we don't even know is with a racing team or not. And do you honestly think he sat there waiting for us? He drove by at a fairly fast pace, and you decided to hop in your car and follow."

"...God damn it. It just gets on my nerves, though. Don't people have respect for others' mountain passes? Jeez." Keisuke crossed his arms, trying hisbest to look huffed and angry still, but Ryousuke pretty much embarassed him with that line. Yeah, it has been quite a while since he lost his temper, but... there was just something he didn't like about that Starion.

Wait... _Starion_? What the hell is that!?

"Uhm... Brother...", Keisuke asked Ryousuke in a dim, low voice... "Just what's a Starion, anyways?"

Ryousuke let off a small chuckle, before eyeing Keisuke, tapping his cigarette as a few ashes fell to the ground. 

"I'll tell you", He said, eyes glancing to the FC then back to Keisuke. "The Mitsubishi Starion is a fairly inexpensive RWD performance car from the mid to late eighties." Taking another drag first, he continued his explanation. "There's really nothing all that special about the car, except perhaps its engine choice. It came in two forms, one later in the car's lifespan. One is a turbo 2.6 liter inline four, and the other is a turbo 2.0 liter inline four. But the 2.0 is the father of the 4G63 that powers the current-day Lancer Evolution, while the 2.6 liter is a single overhead-cam engine that's also used in pickup trucks."

Keisuke canted his head slightly to the side, scratching the back of his hair, trying to think.

"So just how is the engine choice interesting? Aside of the fact those Lan-Evos are very powerful... are you saying the one I ran into has a newer version of the Lan-Evo engine?"

Ryousuke shook his head a bit, eyes narrowing slightly. It sent a small shiver down Keisuke's spine as he noticed the look. It was a sign that Ryousuke was becoming truly - even if only slightly interested.

"That might be so, but it might also be quite the opposite..." Ryousuke proceeded to sit down on the guardrail, revealing a small bit of his thought process to Keisuke. "He could also be running a modified version of that 2.6. Believe it or not, I don't know its engine code."

Keisuke chuckled - daring at once to defy his brother's logic. "I think you're thinking too hard, brother. The 2.6 is single overhead-cam! It couldn't match the revability or horsepower of the 4G63... and I'll definately stand firm on that. What about those Evolutions they drag-race? They're running ten seconds flat in the 400 meter! I might hate Lan-Evos, but I can't deny those engines can produce insane horsepower."

Ryousuke shook his head slightly, giving Keisuke a look of slight frustration. He snuffed out his cigarette and stood up, looking Keisuke square in the eye.

"...you're missing the point."

-

Akiyuki tried his best to look suprised, and gave a bit of a confued - and worried - looking nod.

"Yes, go ahead... please be careful, though."

That look of worry changed to an eager grin as Akiyuki watched Takumi fire the Starion back up and proceed to right its direction, before rolling to another dull start - and flooring the gas yet again. _This is truly exciting..._, Akiyuki thought to himself. _The kid's determation is a lot fiercer than it looks._


	5. Chapter 5: Not Quite Out of The Blue

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 5: Not Quite Out of The Blue**

"So, what you're saying is... the 2.6's torque and wide powerband can make it much faster than even my FD?" Keisuke eyed his yellow RX-7 wearily, not quite sure what to say to that. After all - in the end, his FD was still a modern-day marvel of technology, implementing such things as electronic throttle control, sequential twin turbo, and more - in its stock form. And with this RE-Amemiya body kit along with a few other tuning tricks, it was just fierce. _And yet a single overhead-cam Starion could make quick work out of it_. Keisuke eased himself onto the FD's hood, before reclining back and laying on it, staring up at the early morning's warm-colored sky.

"I guess it makes sense if you have lots of power at a low RPM and can keep the car in a fairly tall gear - it spares you the need to downshift, and then upshift, but how could it make the car that much faster?", he asked Ryousuke, his eyes still fixated on the sky.

"It's his driving style. If it's that kid from Sayama, then he has a bit of an unorthodox driving style that suits the tuning and style of his car. or rather, he's tuned and designed the car to his driving style." Keisuke sat there, blank for a second. _Saitama_, he thought to himself, _If he was from Saitama, then wouldn't we have been challenged if he's that fast?_ He pondered for a few seconds, trying to envision a scenario. As usual, nothing useful turned up.

"It's aggrovating", he said to Ryousuke, with a bit of a sharp edge to it, "that somebody would sit back and watch someone else do the driving. Whatever happened to pulling out the best drivers to completely obliterate the opposing team? What's the point of holding back, big brother?"

Ryousuke shook his head a bit, now perched again on the guardrail, as he looked out to the town of Haruna in the far distance, catching a glimpse of its profile shadowed by the angle of the sun."Keisuke, do you really thing every racer out there has it in for us, or even cares about these turf wars?"

Keisuke paused again in thought, wondering if what Ryousuke was saying was true. Well, yes, it was a bit silly to think every single street racer on the globe was there to defend his territory and his alone, but still, why wouldn't such a big-shot - or at the very least, someone fast enough to pull away from his FD - come out of the woodwork and shut down a team that was only out for pride and respect? Why wouldn't he confront Project D directly?

-

"It's tough!", Takumi said to himself, fighting the Starion at the corner's exit. He kept the steering wheel dialed in at almost full countersteer as yet again the car wanted to go sideways on the corner's exit, lagging for a split-second and then over-powering him with, well... power. Even though this was one of the wider hairpins on Haruna, it seemed so fierce, now. It was disillusioning Takumi, challenging him in ways that he never imagined. A short distance later, the car's rear finally straightened, although the tires were still squealing with wheelspin for a bit longer. Takumi kept the gas pedal pinned to the floorpan through the series of mild bends after then hairpin, approaching the next 'corner' rather aggressively, and let off only at what eh figured would be the braking point... but instead, got a bit of a nasty suprise.

"Takumi, your speed!", Akiyuki suddenly almost shreiked, taking a look at the speedometer's readout, better than 65 MPH into the corner, higher than Akyiuki knew _anyone_ could approach it. His grip tightened on the "Oh, crap!" handle of his right-side passenger's seat, him bracing for impact as he heard the brakes lock up. _He mis-judged the car's acceleration and speed!_, he thought to himself, eyes closed tightly. _Starion sweetie..._

"Shimata! TURN!!!" Takumi had no option in this situation but to brake as hard as possible, to the point of them locking up. He fought as the car wanted to understeer right into the guardrail, then let off the brakes and tried to keep them from locking. All of this happened in almost split seconds, but once again, it was like slow motion to Takumi. His breathing resumed only after all motion had successfully stopped and the car rested only an inch from the guardrail, Akiyuki slowly opening his eyes, staring at Takumi then bewilderedly.

"This car is faster than it feels...", Takumi said, his hands still firmly gripping the wheel. "It has strange power, and that 'kick'...it's a familiar feeling, I just... can't place where..."

"You should be more aware of your speed, Fujiwara...", Akiyuki said, frowning as he observed how close they were to the guardrail. "It's an unfamiliar car, isn't it? 

Takumi gave Akiyuki a solemn nod in repliance, staring at the instrument panel, the speedometer reading 0 km/h and the tachometer showing that he once again killed the engine's operation in that slightly dumb stunt.

"...but I apploaud you for not wrecking my car. I was more concerned for her sake than I was for my own, to be perfectly honest", Akiyuki suddenly said. He was even smiling, just a bit. Why was he smiling, might one ask? The answer is fairly simple; because Akiyuki knew _he_ wouldn't be able to save the car at that speed... but this young tofu delivery boy, driving this unfamiliar machine for the first time, did. And if that wasn't respect-worthy, nothing is. At last, after another minute of silence, Akiyuki initiated Takumi once more.

"Keep going, Fujiwara. Whether you're aware of it or not, you're doing better than you was at the start. Let's finish the downhill run, right?"

Takumi nodded once again, as he pressed the clutch pedal in and turned the Starion's key, the engine rumbling to life, eagerly as ever. He notched the slector into 1, and then rolled once again, back up to speed in almost a matter of seconds. Another hairpin was soon upon them, and again, Takumi would struggle with a late-entry, early-exit technique... his usual application, one that was working against him so harshly yet again as the rear wheels kicked out a split second after he stepped on the gas pedal. This pattern continued corner by corner, as he completed the second half of Haruna's downhill course, although, off of the fourth of the famous Five Hairpins, Takumi finally figured it out - what the power surge felt like, that is.

"Shingo's EG6...", Takumi said to himself as he let off the accelerator, the Starion rolling to a lazy stop. "The car feels like Shingo's EG6."

"Shingo's EG6?" Akiyuki fell silent for a second, tapping into his memory banks. But, unfortunately to him, no Shingo he knew, that drove an EG6, at least, ever came up. Which was okay - he knew Takumi has competed in a few street races before the days of Project D, and there was better chances than not that among his opponents was an EG6... Civic SiR.

"Yeah... Shingo Shouji... a disgusting driver who used cheap tricks like taping your hand to the steering wheel to win races. In the middle of the race, he slammed into me to try to crash me, and I ended up spinning out. Coming off of the corner, this Starion car feels like he's tapping the rear a split-second after I step on the gas."

"I.. uhm... see..." Akiyuki was suprised to hear that. _Taped to the steering wheel?_ he asked himself. _Now I see why Ryousuke chose him. If he is talented enough to survive not only a race, but also being spun out, with that kind of rediculous limitation, then I can needn't imagine what he can do behind the wheel of his 86. That speed wasn't some sort of illusion, after all. He's everything the legend says and then some._

"Say, Akiyuki... do you mind if I go all-out uphill?", Takumi asked Suzaki, wanting to give the car one more small try.

"Uhm... go right ahead, Fujiwara." Akiyuki was slightly wowed at Fujiwara's persistance. _Kid just doesn't give up... what a great trait to posess,_ he thought to himself, as Takumi performed a simple K-turn, aiming the car back uphill and this time gunning the gas. _Who knows_, Akiyuki thought to himself, _he might actually figure out some of this car on his own if he keeps this up_.

-

Keisuke finally stood up as he heard the sound of an engine taking off in the far distance.

"Brother!", he called to Ryousuke, "Do you think it's him!?"

Ryousuke spent a second in thought, then nodded along, standing up and starting torwards his FC. "Yes, it's his car. It has a low shift point."

"So, are we going to follow it?", Keisuke asked, slightly curiously. He figured he already knew the answer, but it was always good to be certain.

"...No.", Ryousuke replied, swiftly and seriously.

_No!?_ What was Ryousuke talking about? Keisuke stood there for a second in sheer confusion, before clenching his fist, taking a instant step forward, his tempered fire lit up once more. "No!? Why not!?"

Ryousuke eyed Keisuke once again, giving his usual looking-down-on-little-brother look, before turning back to his white FC and opening its door. "BEcause it's none of our buisness, Keisuke. If he really wanted with us, he would have confronted us directly. Think about it. He made no appearance when we challenged the Cappucino and the AE86 Levin, so why would he bother with us now that we were well outside of his homeland again?"

"...But, Ryousuke!"

"...no buts, Keisuke. Let's get back home." Ryousuke proceeded to slip into the grey cockpit of his RX-7 and fire up the 13B rotary engine, before pulling away and heading back into Haruna, Keisuke hesitantly following in his FD as they headed back into the town of Haruna, in no rush whatsoever to get back home. In fact, they both needed a refill on gas, and the only gas station they knew of was that little Esso down the street. Luckily, when they pulled in, Iketani was outside, with Yuiichi unlocking the cash register and getting ready for the day.

"Welcome t-... huh?", Iketani said, greeting the two cars in his usual fashion, until who's two cars they were crossed his sleep-couded mind. He watched the two of them pull up beside the pumps, and after a 10 second lapse of being on this planet, Iketani scooted right over, both the Takahashi brothers giving him the same reply; "Fill it up, high octane."

However, Ryousuke pulled ahead of Keisuke, and when Iketani got to him second, he didn't pass on the oppurtunity to question Kouichirou on a simple little subject. Ryousuke figured, it might as well be worth a shot, even if the odds of it happening were little.

"Say, did you by any chance happen to see a green Starion driver around here the past couple of days or so?"

Iketani's reply was a suprise to both Ryousuke, and also to Keisuke, who had been listening into the small conversation.

"Yeah, in fact, he stopped here for gas yesterday night. Why do you ask?"


	6. Chapter 6: Just because it's an old car

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 6: Just because it's an old car...**

"Damn it!", Takumi huffed, "It's even harder to drive than it was before! What the hell's wrong with this car?" Exiting through the double chicane, the Starion passed the 86 with still-amazing speed. Fujiwara modulated the throttle and brakes in his usual smooth fashion as they rounded the moderate-speed hairpin that led to the next long straightaway. Going uphill, it was now quite apparent how big the power difference was between the Starion and the 86. Takumi grabbed for third, then fourth gear as they got torwards the end, once again noting his extreme speed and braking just before the harsh bend that led to a double-hairpin. The car was still almost more responsive than he could have imagined on the entry, offering only hints of oversteer but being for the most part neutural - until the exit. _Again_. The boost kicked back in and he was again in a heavy-angle drift, fighting to keep the car pointed straight.

Takumi was able to use the inertial force he had going with him to sway the car back in the other direction, trying one of his inertial drifts for the second hairpin. Akiyuki watched nervously, as Takumi rev-matched the downshift and stepped on the gas slightly earlier than usual, seeing how he dialed in just a touch of countersteer before the rear broke loose again. Takumi hung on, the rear tires spinning wildly, and the car was held on the exit at an angle similar to dirt-track racers.The countersteer, as well, was very heavy. _Wow_, Suzaki thought to himself, looking at Takumi with a bit of an awestruck expression, _this time he anticipated it_, he thought as the countersteer eased off and they shot down the short straight torwards the next heavy angle corner.

On the 45 corner, Takumi was light on the brakes, tapping them right before entry to shift the car's weight forward and loosen the rears, then hammering the throttle once more and lighting up the rear tires. The drift that resulted looked very awe-striking, but unfortunately, it wasn't fast. At all. Still - it was tremendous compared to how Takumi first started out. He was beginning to _control_ the drifts, even though the drifts themselves were overdone and showy... and drifting was no good for racing, anyways. The Starion was beginning to respond to the way Akiyuki was used to, though, and he was suprised. Still - it'd take a week for Takumi to perfect this driving style and run the car at a top speed. It was refreshing, though - every other person Akiyuki chose for experimenting driving this as he tweaked with the engine settings live in-car, was an FF graduate who still followed the tight in, wide out procedure. The results of putting someone who was used to a wide in, tight out style proved useful to Akiyuki's theory...

The theory that a driver is accustomed solely to one style would struggle driving a car that required a different approach to being driven.

Another quick bend, followed by another hairpin. The uphill run was almost complete, and Fujiwara took a quick glance at Akiyuki, noting the expression on his face. _He's... happy?_, he asked himself. _But I'm struggling so hard to keep this car on the road... it's such a difficult challenge! This is worse than transitioning from the old 86 to the new one! The behavior is so unorthodox and unpredictable, despite the fact that the corner entry is so smooth... why?_ But again, he was right on top of the hairpin before he expected. He again locked the brakes, the look on Akiyuki's face changing to slight fear again. _Shimata... Hang on. Hang on, please, Akiyuki's Starion!_! He managed to keep the car from understeering into the guardrail, when he instinctively floored the gas, the power surge merely spun the rears, befor sending the car into another extreme slide, all four of the Starion's tires begging for mercy as Takumi tried... so hard... to keep the car facing the right direction, but instead he found himself jamming on the brakes - a few seconds later, the car was once again slightly facing the wrong way - almost staring the guardrail striaght down but facing a few degrees downward.

Takumi sat there, silent. His frustration with the car had him just about on the verge of tears. Just how many years has it been when he found a car this difficult to drive? The entire run both ways, he felt like the car would slip out of his control any second, felt like his commands sent to the steering wheel and pedals was just a casual suggestion, and what the car really wanted to do was completely different. That harsh kick that came with the turbo's spool was just about uncontrollable. Takumi never encountered such a beast like this in his lifetime. Was this car even actually designed for mountain pass racing, and not highway racing? Covering his face with both his hands, he tilted his head up for a second, before slamming both fists down on the D-shaped steering wheel.

"KUSOOOOO!" Takumi looked down, a few drops of sweat falling from his chin. His shirt was soaked, and he was breathing heavily.

Akiyuki sat there with a bit of an empty expression on his face. He knew Takumi was driving the car balls-out from the very start, but just _how much_ he struggled didn't strike Suzaki until now. _I guess even superheroes have their faults..._, he thought to himself. _Fujiwara has probably been nurtured into glory by that little 86 of his, and never, ever, concerned himself with driving anything else. He's so unlike any other racer I know, who would just go from car to car._ Akiyuki broke the silence with a simple gesture. "Let's go pick up the Trueno, Fujiwara, and we can continue talking up at the top of the hill."

"Un..." It took Takumi a while to finally turn the key and start the Starion back up, though. Not once, not twice, but three times, he put the car and its owner in danger due to his carelessness. No matter how hard the car might have been to drive, he had no buisness doing that. In other words, what just happened crushed Fujiwara. Once again, he backed the Starion and started driving slowly back downhill.

-

"He asked for Fujiwara specifically?" Ryousuke was now very curious about this Starion-driving pro-racer from Sayama, Saitama. He looked to Keisuke, who stood beside the two, and then Iketani.

"Yes... is something big going on? Is Takumi... in trouble, somehow?", Iketani replied, somewhat intimidated. While he wasn't too hot on the facts about whatever was going on with Fujiwara and Project.D, He knew that winning a battle could really upset a team.

"No, Kouichirou, it's nothing like that. We ourselves ar euncertain to just what the man's intentions are concerning Fujiwara. Speaking of which - where is he?", Ryousuke said to Iketani, glancing behind him and not seeing anyone else present.

"Ah, uhm, Fujiwara doesn't work here any more", Iketani said, with a bit of a suprised look. "Right after he joined your team he took up a job moving furniture."

"Ah, I see... well, I'll just be on the lookout for the Starion driver then, and consult Takumi when he comes to Akagi on Saturday, to see if he's interacted with the Starion kid at all.", Ryousuke said, glancing to his FC as the gas nozzle clicked.

"Hey, uhm.. Ryousuke...", Iketani said in a bit of a low tone, "I'll be on the lookout as well", then removed the gas nozzle and capped the tanks on the RX-7's.

"Thank you very much, I sincerely appreciate it", Ryousuke replied, before he climbed into his FC. Keisuke remained silent as he slipped into his own FD's cockpit, the two cars that just a year ago wore RedSuns stickers but today had no stickers whatsoever. To Iketani, as he watched them both drive away, it gave them even _more_ of a presence. But he was too flustered at the moment to concern himself with that. "Oh, wow...", he said to just about nobody in particular, with a bit of an awe-struck gaze in his eyes. "Ryousuke Takahashi... Akagi's White Comet... thanked me."

-

Akiyuki fetched a pair of sodas, tossing one to Takumi, before propping open the hood of his Starion again. "Have a drink!", he said, with a bit of a happy gesture.

"Uhm... sure." Takumi cracked open the can and took a small swig, before observing the look of the Starion's engine again. Now that it was bright out, he could make out how... how _different_ it looked from his own 4A-GE... especially noting the engine still was single overhead-cam. But its setup seemed different even to Keisuke's or Ryousuke's, about the only two turbo cars he's had a good look at, besides also Itsuki's 85. The spool was small-ish, smaller than Itsuki's 3A-C spool. "The engine... it looks pretty strange", Takumi said.

Akiyuki chuckled a little, "The engine _is_ pretty strange, Fujiwara. For the money invested into just the engine alone, you could probably buy a used late-model Ferrari or a top-notch Benz", he said in repliance.

Takumi's eyes widened, him staring directly at Akiyuki's almost like-anyone-else-would-do expression, before shaking his head twice. "You put _that much_ money into it!? How many engines has this car gone through?"

Akiyuki narrowed his eyes, revealing a small, content grin. "Zero. This is the original engine. It's been rebuilt 3 or 4 times, though. Only the original block is what's left of it. The rest of the engine for the most part has been compiled of top-notch racing parts, or, where there was no such parts to be found, had parts _purpose-built_ for this application. Although, I'm working on getting a Starion specialty store going, supplying parts for both the 4G63 and the G54B - known here in Japan as the 4G54."

Takumi just stood blank for a bit, pondering to himself. _Why, compared to my own car... perhaps even Keisuke's car... that's an incredible amount of money_ I wonder how much time it might have taken, if some of the parts are custom-modified...

"And, Fujiwara, here's one of the awesome features that nobody has been looking into - perhaps because there isn't much of a market for such an expensive mod. But it's what gives this car almost lag-less response." Akiyuki pointed to the - well, it was like an intake manifold, sort of - but was that ITBs it was covering? Akiyuki answered that question quickly. "A turbocharger manifold feeding the ITB's, as opposed to a single manifold setup. The response is crisp, but there's so much boost dialed in that it takes a quick half-second for the boost to come on. That's the kick you were feeling. And that spool? It's an advanced WRC-style spool with strong titanium fins that allow it to spin up to ridiculous speeds. It produces similar boost pressure to a larger turbine but the response is quicker and comes in at a lower RPM."

Takumi continued listening in as Akiyuki went on, overall just wowed by the effort that was put into this car.

"But the modifications don't end there. The piston head design was changed, the crankshaft altered, and camshafts changed as well - just about everything has been re-worked to allow the engine to have an extremely wide powerband, giving after you eliminate the small turbo lag, a feel similar to a large displacement V8 engine. Even the displacement's been enlarged to 2.8 liters - that's almost twice the displacement of your 20-valve. On top of that, it's had a custom-designed head installed as well, utilizing forked rocker arms to turn it into a three-valve-per-cylinder engine, giving it efficiency close to a dual overhead-cam. But, Fujiwara, do you know what the difference is between my Starion's engine tuning and your 4A-G's, aside from the fact mine's a high-output turbo and yours is a free-revving NA?"

Takumi shook his head. "To be honest... I have no clue. they both look like they've had a tremendous amount of work done to them."

Akiyuki chuckled a small bit. "The difference is - your engine is a disciple of very old-school tuning terminology." He pointed to the opened hood of the AE86, shaking his head a bit. "It still runs four individual high-flow Weber carburaetors... that's actually a _downgrade_, almost, from the stock EFI, because you always have to tune the carburaetor jets to suit the altitude, and the powerband isn't as forgiving as a similar setup with ITB's."

Akiyuki then turned to face the engine of his left-hand-drive Starion, pointing quickly to a metallic silver box with wires running into one side. "Part of the engine's tuning includes an adujstable fuel map along with other settings that you can actually tune while driving the car by connecting a laptop computer, such as the ignition timing, which also allows the use of an anti-lag system. Your engine on the other hand, it still sports distrubitor-style ignition system!"

Takumi nodded, realising the size of what Akiyuki was explaining. The car's tuning was as old-school as the machine itself.

"This car, Fujiwara, is also riding on FD double-wishbone suspension, and also has the same steering system. That's why the handling is sharp and crisp compared to your solid-axle rear. The chasis' been modified to accept these modifications.", Akiyuki continued.

"FD... _suspension?_" Takumi sat there, blank for second, now in total disbelief. "You can do those kinds of things?"

"With enough money, you can, Fujiwara. I've got good funding. Takumi-san, Just because it's an old car doesn't mean it can't be updated to compete with modern machines. Looking at the exterior and interior shells, not much has changed. But inside, the car's been reworked to be a true monster, well-suited to my style of getting on the gas early in the corner and having a wide exit. It's a car I've built to suit my style. Yet, despite all this, I still would rather not be in the driver's seat. I am more apt at being an engineer and mechanic to a racing team. You see, this car I merely race on occasion, alone, and with no opponents to concern myself with..."

A few minutes later, after the rest of the conversation was complete, both drivers got into their cars and drove off, Takumi returning back home to the tofu shop and Akiyuki heading back torwards Sayama, Saitama. Whatever conspired between the two drivers was largely unknown, but this much was known: Akiyuki Suzaki made a huge impression on the young driver, giving him a _lot_ to think about.


	7. Chapter 7: And a Damn Fine Driver, Too

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 7: And a Damn Fine Driver, Too.**  
The Starion hugged the corner tightly as Akiyuki was once again up on the wheel, directing his green beast the best he could. Downshifting to second, he then flipped on the ALS switch, the car backfiring loudly, the rear wheels spinning just so slightly as he tapped the gas, swinging the car through the apex, dialing in a spec of countersteer as he eased back on the gas, shooting off the corner. His lips formed asmall grin at the 4G5B's response, the car launching with vigor off the tight hairpin. This was truly one of the torquiest four-cylinders ever.

"The response, even here, is great...", Akiyuki said to himself, easing off the gas just a slight bit on the straightaway.

"The course I suppose is a bit challenging in its own way, a constant series of tight corners with almost no pause inbetween..."

Indeed, there wasn't. Suzaki had but a second an da half to completely step on the gas, before he dove into another early-entry corner, feathering the throttle while remaining hard on the brakes. The approach worked well enough to have the car cruise right through it again, all four wheels chirping slightly but none sliding.

"But every corner is almos tidentical to the rest. If you could handle one right-hand corner on this course or one left-hand, you could handle them all... how is that challenging?"

Again, he'd lay off the gas and apply his early entry approach, easing off the corner, making full use of the road's width, and then pacing himself down the next straightaway. Again, it was a fairly short straight... not substantial enough to, say, pass a slower car or such.

"It's nothing I haven't dealed with in WRC before. Hairpin after hairpin. It's a ton of fun. The thing is, I've never done it at night before. It is pretty exciting, though, not having the extra all-around visibility and having to sharpen your senses down a one-way street like this..."

He watched ahead as the car in front of him, perhaps over-pressured by the Starion's close distance that he's kept the entire way down, brake a little later than it previously had, the brakes themselves seeming a bit dull in response compared to such.

"Heh... gotcha."

A small gap opened up, and Akiyuki strapped himself down as he followed with a late entry, clinging as tightly as he could to the inside railing, the Starion barely gaining beside it, Akiyuki unfazed by how close he was to the white sheetmetal of the car beside him.

-

Ryousuke had a fixated gaze on the screen of his laptop computer, observing what was displayed... however, for once, his fingers weren't relentlessly clattering away on the keyboard. Instead, he was in fact merely watching the video being displayed on-screen, his brother nearby as they both watched a Subaru Legacy rally car cruise to victory - not only for the race, but also the champtionship.

"I don't get it, Ryousuke... what's the point of watching this? You've already shown me rally footage not long ago.", Keisuke complained, figuring time could be better spent on the upkeep of his FD, or perhaps practicing on Akagi.

"Just keep watching, you'll be suprised who's behind the wheel...", replied Ryousuke... as the team cheered around the muddied up Legacy, champaigne bottles already being uncorked as the driver removed his helmet and climbed on the roof, throwing both arms up in the air in voctiry.

"N... no way!", gasped Keisuke, "Th... that's the Starion driver!?"

"Indeed it is...", continued Ryousuke, reclining back for a second, the team leader deep in thought.

"I wonder... I wonder if he has interest in Fujiwara, and what it just may be...", he continued to ponder.

"Perhaps he's throwing Fujiwara a bone?", Keisuke suggested, for once making a very valiant effort to back up his brother's theory. And Ryousuke at all didn't seem to mind.

"Perhaps,", he suggested with a bit of a shrug. "I wouldn't be suprised; if Suzaki does want Takumi as a driver, then Fujiwara will have something I can't offer to him - and you and I both, Keisuke, know what that is."

Keisuke's reply was only that of mere silence. Slumping back down on Ryousuke's comfortable couch, he closed his eyes, tilting his head up and relaxing a little. Indeed, if there was but one thing that Suzaki could pin Fujiwara for, it would be the one thing that was well beyond Project D. Perhaps, in fact, the one thing that would motivate Fujiwara to move on from the team - no matter how short or long that Suzaki would want from the present moment. Everything they learned together, Keisuke and Takumi, as drivers - the rain races, the special little maneuvers... hell, even the strokes of both good and bad luck... all of that would just be more steam for Suzaki's boiler.

-

Kyoichi Sudou stood at the top of Mt. Iroha, his eyes locked on the enterance of the one-way road that was, for what it was worth, the downhill course. Arms crossed, and a litcigarette held between his lips, he remained emotionless gazing at it. This was his own course, and almost nobody could even think of out-gunning him there. Nobody, of course, except for only two men that he could ever think of pulling that on their own, and that was, Ryousuke Takahashi and Takumi Fujiwara. But a cell phone call that he recieved just minutes prior to arriving on the mountaintop set Sudou ready to prove that no young punk is just going to pop out of the woodwork and destroy his title again. No chance in hell that would happen.

"Hello, this is Kyoichi speaking."

"Hey, Mr. Sudou. I heard you head a particularly fast racing team around these parts."

"Yes, that much is true. We're..."

"A group of cocky Lan-Evo drivers who think AWD is the only way, yes?"

"..."

"Come on, you know that would only come from an RWD fan like myself."

"What's your beef, kid? It's not often that some outsider comes up with an attitude like yours."

"What attitude? I'm not the driver who went around local towns and villages and cut other teams stickers in half then tacked them upside down on my spoiler. That's pretty disrespectful."

"What are you talking about? I've never commited such an act."

"...what about your friend Seiji Iwaki?"

"..."

"Look. I'm not trying to pull any Redsuns, Emperor or Project D bullshit, Mr. Sudou. All I'm asking for is a single downhill match, head-to-head, drag-race style start. To explore, not only the abilities of the quote-unquote Best of Iroha Hill but also the newfound capabilities of my own ride."

"...and just what kind of a ride do you own, Mr. RWD fan? An NSX? Something rediculous like that?"

"I'll be there in an hour.You can just see for yourself - unless you have too much pride to confront a new FR on your own turf."

And so that call led to him being there. A good 20 minutes later than the kid said he'd be here, but still, it was better late than never. In only a short bit of time, he would hear an engine approaching in the distance, turning his head and laying eyes on the car as it approached at a rather lazy pace - rolling slowly to a stop before the Emperor himself - and his black Evo III.

"Wait, but that's a... you're not kidding, right?" Kyoichi shook his head again, watching the black-clad driver step his way out of the three-door hatchback, in slight disbelief to anybody driving _anything close to that_ coming up out of nowhere and challenging the likes of him. Kyoichi chuckled a small bit, throwing his cigarette to the ground and snuffing it out as the boy approached him.

"I've gotta admit, you've got balls for talking so big on the phone, but what's this - a mere Starion? You're not kidding, right?"

Akiyuki shrugged his shoulders as he turned back around to face the Starion, then looked Kyoichi back in the eye - the height difference between Kyoichi and himself; Akiyuki being a mere 5' 2 - looking quite amusing. But he showed no signs of being intimidated.

"The car's right here. Do I look like I'm kidding, Mr. Sudou? I'm not scared of you guys. If the subpar show put on by your MONSTOR buddy crashing himself is any indication of your skill level around here, then I've got every right in the world right now to feel cocky."

Kyoichi's amused face grew serious and disgusted fast listening to Akiyuki's words. "Hey, kid, now you're taking boasting a little too far. I don't mind someone claiming their car is the greatest, but I strongly disapprove of making things up."

"Who's making things up? See for yourself." And sure enough, as Akiyuki thumbed to the exit from the road leading uphill, a single lit headlight appeared, and as the car passed under a streetlight, soon the rest of it was revealed - a half-missing bumper, busted intercooler, and a fender scraping against the wheel, loudly. The wheel itself, misaligned, and the driver's side turn signal dangling from where the rest of the bumper once was - and the passenger's side fender caved in, the passenger's side scraped to holy hell, and even the rear bumper messed up.

"...!!!" Kyoichi made a move to Suzaki just as he laid a casual stare back onto Sudou, taking a step backwards.

"Before you start thinking illogically, Mr. Sudou, give my car a thorough inspection if you wish. There isn't a scratch on it. He wrecked himself."

Seiji Iwaki slowly climbed out of the cockpit of his wrecked Evo IV, his eyes down on the road before his team boss, having an overall disheartened expression on his face. No, there was no rage or anything in that look of his - no fight screaming at Suzaki for tapping his car or anything - just an empty sigh of heartache.

"..."

And then, in the quiet night air, was the loud whip-crack-like sound of a hand slapping a face, _very_ hard. Seiji was on the verge of tears, not even able to meet eye to eye with Sudou. It needn't apply, anyways. Sudou was more than eager to belt out a verbal beating to go with the mark across his face, Suzaki watching with an amused expression on his face, a regular one-man audience.

"It's one thing to disgrace our team with a loss, but to wreck as well!?", Kyoichi snapped.

A slight pause went on, Kyoichi giving his teammate a chance to reply but getting nothing.

"Do you know how ugly it makes team Emperor for our number two driver to _fk up_ the way you just did!? Imagine if there was a gallery watching, and this was more than a one-shot meet! Imagine if your teammates were here, Seiji! It would turn our entire team into some kind of lame joke excuse for a top-notch Lancer Evolution club! And the nature of the damage - what, did you understeer like an idiot braking into a corner too late?"

Seiji remained silent for another all but 3 seconds befor eslowly replying, shaking his head. "N... no, that wasn't how it happened."

Kyoichi fished out another cigarette, giving Seiji only a small amount of time to gather some half-decent composure.

"Well, if that wasn't what happened, then speak up. I'm all ears", he said, frustrated, now blowing out smoke.

"Well", Seiji started, "I went into the corner late and he did too, but my brakes weren't as responsive..."

"And...?", Kyoichi replied, not looking a devil's chance in hell amused.

"And, I took a wide line by mistake, and he took a narrow one. I tried to out-accelerate the RWD mid-corner but it understeered horrib-"

Seiji would be cut off by a pretty hard uppercut to the jaw, dealt by Kyoichi's tight, concrete-like fist.

"Go home, Seiji", Kyoichi said, watching him stumble to the ground, looking up at Sudou with fear. "Get out of my fking sight. That's the most amaetur mistake I've ever heard any of my teammates making, and to think it was made by my so-called #2, _on our home course!_ Take your injured Evo and get it fixed up, and if you're lucky, return here next week to see if you're still on the team after this ugly chain of events. Just GO!"

Ashes flicked from the tip of Kyoichi's cigarette as he glared at Seiji, shocked and speechlessly scrambling into his Evolution's passenger compartment, before high-tailing it from the scene in a crazy rush. Which brought the two - Kyoichi Sudou and Akiyuki Suzaki - back to the present moment. He eyed the kid up and down, observing his somewhat feminine features, before his expression lightened - not to the point of chuckling, but looking a lot less scary than just moments prior.

"Just who the hell are you, anyways, kid? And what brings you to Mt. Iroha", he asked, canting his head to the left - just a tad.

"The name...", the Starion driver replied, "...is Akiyuki Suzaki, and my motive for being here is in sizing up hopefully some of the better drivers Fujiwara once competed against. that is all." Shrugging a small bit, Akiyuki would watch as Kyoichi tilted his head down a bit, before shaking it slightly.

"You got me there. That's totally nowhere close to what I was expecting. I would have been less suprised to hear you admit you were a 'privateer' hire for Ryousuke Takahashi, some big-star WRC driver out for home-turf blood."

Akiyuki chuckled a little, before narrowing his eyes a bit. "You've got half of that, right, my friend. I am - no, was a big WRC driver at one point in time. I brought Subaru their first victories at Monte Carlo and their first championship, in 1991, both in the same year. I also did it being the youngest driver there, at 16 years of age."

Kyoichi dropped his cigarette at that gesture; he knew that Suzaki couldn't be kidding around because thanks to the recent growth of a new technology called the World Wide Web, it would be more than easy enough to check up on the information.

"16!? They let you compete at that age?" Akiyuki nodded slightly in repliance.

"Yes... however, the reason I won the championship was because I had it locked up one rally before the final. Do you remember that big wreck in Finland, Kyoichi? The one they called 'the worst WRC accident since the days of Group B'?"

Kyoichi thought for a second, then shook his head.

"Very well. I'll tell you. I ended up losing a tire halfway through in the middle of a narrow high-speed section close to a 40-foot dropoff. I had successfully changed the tire, yes, but..."

Akiyuki's tone of voice turned a bit glum, as well as his facial expression..

"Right after I climbed back in the car, a competing Mitsubishi Galant hit a rock, at north of 150 kilometers per hour, according to the race officials, and was knocked off its path of travel. I don't remember that much. What I do remember is this, just as I started fastening my safety harness along with my co-driver, a horrid impact, sending us straight off the cliff and tumbling into the woods. I remember heat suddenly flaring up all around me, and having the need to get out badly, despite just having been thrown throughout the car 6 times and braking over 15 bones. I remember shaking my co-driver, telling him we needed to get out, and now, only to see a tree branch that penetrated through his head and out the back of the seat rest. My close friend, and perhaps the best pre-ATTESA Skyline fan and driver I knew, Jeremy Thomas Marquis, dead on the spot, never to be revived. I remember fighting an urge to try tofree him anyways, knowing it was useless, and then the scorching pain that came with some of the burning gas dumping into the cabin, and crawling out of the wreckage and passing out."

Akiyuki took a small sigh, before continuing.

"The next thing I know, Team Subaru won the driver's championship on the note of a badly injured driver and dead co-driver, me sitting in a hospital bed, taped and casted in more places than I would ever like to. Yes, Sudou - I had talent. But I also learned really quick how mortal the human being really is. It scared me out of racing. That, and another subject which I won't touch. And if you disbelieve me, you can look it up on the computer - if you aren't one of the lucky souls who have one, you can go to the library. My name and face, and the charred remains of my Legacy, are all in the 5-year-old headlines. Oh - and for the record, both the driver and co-driver of the Galant are also dead."

A long pause followed as the two drivers just looked at each other, Kyoichi deciding that the body language and tone of Suzaki's voice proved this all too true.

"That's... really deep shit for a young man for yourself to go through - even at _this age_. But at 16? It had to be a nightmare..."

"...It was. But I had my big sister, Kasumi to help me. We both pulled through our hardships."

Kyoichi nodded in sullen repliance. But then, he had to object to one thing.

"So if you got scared out of racing, then why are you back in it? Street racing, even?"

Akiyuki chuckled a small bit. "Well, to be honest, you're the first person I've challenged - your weak-spirited Evo IV friend aside - since I could remember. The only street quote-unquote racing I actually do is usually just for personal excitement. My only topic of interest is Fujiwara - having him seen him outgun a high-strung, practically race-ready FB was quite a feat, don't you agree? Don't you also agree that you probably thought that the 86 couldn't cut it?"

Kyoichi couldn't believe what was hearing - a kid this intelligent, at this age? He was a junior Ryousuke in his own right - perhaps even better than him.

"So do you want him as a driver than, Suzaki?"

Akiyuki shrugged a bit. "What happens tonight between my Mitubishi and yours will be a deciding factor, but who knows?"

Kyoichi glanced briefly at his Evo III before chuckling a good bit again, remembering the real matter at hand, and then proceeding to enter his car slowly. "Oh, yeah, right, that. So you've got talent, FR boy, but defeating Seiji and defeating myself are two different feats. I'm not an emotional driver who makes amaetur mistakes like that."

Akiyuki smiled, just a small bit. "I wouldn't expect an experienced pro like you to make a mistake, either. Forget the whole Lan-Evo corps. You're the Eeperor I want to challenge, Kyoichi Sudou. A one-time battle between just me and you!" Such wonderful irony, the words Suzaki spoke. Just a year ago, Sudou said the same thing to Ryousuke Takahashi... would it become his jinx?

As Akiyuki opened the door to his Starion back up and hopped in, you could see a bit of burning eagerness that wasn't there. The first real flames of excitement that hadn't fueled him since September, 1991. It was better now than never to make an important stand for not only himself, but also his car and what he believes in - and also for Kasumi.

A short drive later, and they were before the downhill starting line, the two cars nose-to-nose, windows rolled down. "On the third beep, we go", Kyoichi called to Suzaki, and rolled his windows back up. Both drivers revved their engines a little before the quick countdown began.

_Beep!... Beep!... Beep!_

On the third beep, both cars took off, and while Evo III leaped forward easily, the FR Starion plagued by wheelspin. It would only take a few minutes to decide whether Suzaki had something killer in store for the local champion or whether his race against the Evo IV was just a fluke.


	8. Chapter 8: A Brand New Struggle

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 8: A Brand New Struggle**

...Sometime in the near future...

Akiyuki would set down his can of Diet Pepsi on the hood of his Starionm looking slightly awestruck at the feminine blonde-haired "magazine queen" of street racers in Tokyo. She wasn't **the** fastest, per se, but she tried her hardest to be the sexiest... along with her V8-powered Z31 dream, all red, sporting T-Tops, a decklid spoiler, and sawblade-like rims... It was known as the SS, or the Sohryu Special, a car that started life as an Japanese-market 1988 Nissan Fairlady 300ZX Shiro Special, then taken to an extreme level that was well beyond suited for mountain pass racing. Custom built from radiator to rear half-shafts, its powertrain underpinnings were essentially those of a last-year (1995, if you're counting) ZR-1 Corvette, with one exception; _beyond_ that, John Lingenfelter, Corvette tuner extrodinare, went to town on the dual overhead-cam LT5, twin-turbocharging it to somewhere upwards of 700 rear-wheel horsepower. It was crude, heavy, and viciously fast. _But it wasn't the fastest here_.

The two were perched on the hoods of their cars, staring back at one another, beside a pair of BP pumps that were filling their cars' tanks with high-octane. It was just outside of Tokyo, and just off the "Tokyo Wangan", the highway that offered insane speeds leading into an even more insane traffic-filled "City course", something unheard-of to the American-razed Suzaki.

"The Phantom Z?", Akiyuki replied, scratching his chin a little. "I think I might have actually heard of such a car - but it was in America..."

"Then it wasn't _the_ Phantom Z, dude. Trust me, when you'll see it, you won't believe it - my old boss, Misato Katsuragi, she used to be in constant pursuit of that Z, but traffic always managed to get in the way, or she ran out of fuel, or something dumb like that kept her from erasing it from her rearview.", the red-haired girl said, shrugging a bit.

"Team boss... say, hey, what's your name anyways, miss? You've done a good job keeping that Z looking like it rolled out of the showroom. I love the look of those 80's cars.", Akiyuki said, in a bit of a complimentitive gesture.

"The name's Asuka... Asuka Langley sohryu, but just call me Asuka... or... if you wanna be a sweetheart, Asuka-chan." With a wink, she traced her name, and a heart, in the air with her index finger.

"Asuka will do fine...", Akiyuki said, with a bit of a nervous chuckle.

"Whatever suits, Akiyuki. Now, the legend is, no matter how far you travel or how fast you go, the Z will always somehow be even faster. It has to be more of a fact than a legend, though, considering _my_ Z can't keep up with it.", Askuka said, looking a bit embarassed of the fact.

Akiyuki eyed the car again - the beauty looked bone stock, down to the exhaust outlits. Only the tires looked agressive. "Well, then again, I'm sure this isn't an ordinary Z we're dealing with, I mean, I'll bet its VG30-"

"It's not a Z32. It's an S30, Akiyuki. And my Z is _far_ from stock. Would you like to see for yourself?" Giving Suzaki a bit of a deadpan stare, her face blushed red a little - okay, it was one thing not to know Asuka by name, but to _not know her at all!? Not even the car...?_ Now _that_, was huge. _Everybody_ in Tokyo who knew shit about cars knows Asuka. Her name's _everywhere_, and her Z is even more than that.

"...S30!? A 240Z? Well... uhm, sure, why not?" Akiyuki hopped off the Starion's hood, walking over to the front of the Z32, as Asuka revealed the car's engine before his eyes.

"..."

Asuka smirked a small bit, the grin growing in width as Suzaki's jaw seemingly became slightly unhinged. The exposed spark plug wires, and the "CORVETTE" spelled on the side were dead giveaways, along with the complex intake manifold. No doubt about it, this was the at stock, 400-horsepower, Lotus designed, Mercury Marine-built engine of Glory, the powerplant that made the ZR-1 Corvette the Top Dog of all Corvettes in every way, shape, and form. ...and then, he saw the _turbochargers_, and the intercoolers, all this crammed so tightly under the hood you'd literally have to remove the fenders to do serious work. It was an A-class effort, a true thing of beauty - although a mechanic's nightmare at that.

"Jesus Christ... twin-turbo LT5... the output must be..."

"Staggering? I know. I have a hard time keeping the rears hooked up in _third_ with this rig.", Asuka said, replying with a grin before closing the hood. "It's the fastest Z32 in Tokyo. No if's, and's, or but's. - ...and it still somehow gets surpassed by the Phantom Z and Misato's old car."

"Insane...", Akiyuki replied, not even concerned about what Misato seemed to be driving or perhaps, used to drive. "Just insane... and nobody at all has ever kept up with either of the two cars?"

"Well - two people have, in the same car. They're probably more legendary than the Z itself."

"Two?"

-

It took Akiyuki everything he got to keep with Sudou through the first round of hairpins, the car sliding freely around the tight corners, Suzaki in slight disbelief to the improvements between not only the Evo III's performance, but also the ability of the driver. Both cars approached the 5th hairpin with the same familiar "bang bang", The Starion driver floored at the car's sheer _agility_. This was going to be no easy win, that was for up was another left-hander, and Suzaki observed from his Gran Turismo-like view the almost unnatural response of the Evo III. His lips cracked in a small grin, Akiyuki chuckling with delight.

"So that's the whole rave about the new Active Yaw Control system in the Mitsubishi WRC cars... Subaru might find themselves horribly outclassed if they don't come up with a scheme in return to combat this..."

Another hairpin followed, by another short straight, and another hairpin, and naother short straight. This constant repeating motion, with almost equal distance between corners, was a challenge for just about anyone, but the two Mitsubishis that were locked bumper-to-bumper in downhill combat, seemed to tackle the course very gracefully.

"Still with me, huh, kid?", Kyoichi replied, chuckling a bit. "I'll give you this much credit - it's a feat keeping up with me. Fujiwara was able to block, but technically, you have it harder, since FR doesn't have the corner-exit acceleration of the well-tuned Evolution...", Kyoichi said to himself, on eye on his rearview mirror as they headed for the first extreme-angle downhill corner, something that would catch both Sudou's and Suzaki's eye, but in totally different fashions.

As the Evo III broke into an unusually agressive drift, from the corner of his eye he caught a flame erupting from the Starion's muffler, along with the bang-bang of the anti-lag device.

"So the Starion has a misfiring system as well... an FR with misfiring system... how novel..."

But Suzaki, he saw there was almost no space whatsoever from one side of the guardrail to the other, causing him to blink a little, suprised. "If I altered my approach to just a little bit earlier... I wonder where the best spot to try it would be."

On the corner's exit, though, the Starion closed a small bit of the gap between the two cars that formed. No, it wasn't the Starion had the better line... it was the power difference between the two cars. The Starion had more acceleration - thee was no doubt about it.

-

...back to the future...

"It sounds unreal... everything from the color of his eyes to the sheer ability of the GT. I mean, is this all honestly real stuff you're speaking?", Akiyuki said, looking downright - amazed.

"It's as real as it gets, Akiyuki-san. The longer you stay in Tokyo, the more you'll become shocked at everything about the city. It's the greatest city on Earth - and also, the one filled with the most secrets, the city with the most action... everything about it." Asuka explained, fixing her hair into a pair of ponytails.

"Anything else?", he asked, tilting his head to a side a bit as she opened the door of her Z - the door opening slightly out and then slicing up like a sicssor, Lamborghini-style. The only other visual modification the car had, aside from the paint.

"Not really. Just take it easy, and try not to get yourself involved in a car battle. It ain't exactly racing for normal humans." Asuka closed the scissor door and climbed in, starting the engine, just as Akiyuki caught her.

"Ch... chotto!"

Asuka looked at him through the window, rolling it down as the LT5 rumbled at a rather beastly purr. "What is it?", she asked.

"What happened to Misato's Porsche? You talk about it like she sold it."

"She's dead. She died back in August, 1996, along with her old nemesis, Dorothy Bricklin."

Akiyuki remained silent as Asuka looked forward and rolled up the window, slowly driving off.

"Both died... in a car crash, perhaps?", he said to himself, being left to wonder.

-

It was clear now in Akiyuki's memory what the layout of the course was. If he guessed right, he would have a chance to at least get a nose in on the Evolution - getting bumper-to-bumper with it was easy, but getting beside it would be tricky... unless Akiyuki could pull a trick out of his sleeve. And he was damn ready to, too.

A quick series of non-stop-hairpins would be up next as Akiyuki finessed the brakes, throttle, and steering. 1, 2, 3, 4 hairpins, continuous... and on the fourth, he made a little tweak to his approach, diving into the apex early... _way_ early Cutting the corner, he was able to literally _jump off_ the inside of the hairpin - Kyoichi, startled at the car's change of course, swerving so that the roof of his Evo doesn't get crushed in. And at once, the cars were side-by-side, then the Starion was able to round the next relatively wide corner a nose ahead of the Evo - the Evo gaining noticably through the corner and the next hairpin though, almost clearing the green RWD.

"What a reckless move!", Kyoichi shouted, as the cars drag-raced down the somewhat long straightaway. "That could cause so much damage to the underbody of the car that even I wouldn't risk it... but I've gotta admit, you have balls... but, shit... will you be able to pass on this straightaway?"

Two seconds later, the question was answered as the Starion tucked to the inside and got firmly in the middle of the road, making it possible for Kyoichi to counter-attack, for now, at least. "Damn you, kid...", he muttered, "You've definately got the nerve - and the skill - of a WRC star. But pride s pride, and it's a blow to my pride to be overtaken on my home turf... I won't let you escape just yet!"

But it was pointless. On the quick double-hairpin, Akiyuki balanced out left-foot braking to match the anti-lag system and neuturalize lag without downshifting, the G54B's immense amount of low-to-mid-range torque proving vital off the exit. There was one more series of hairpins, but on each one, it was the same story - Sudou would draw in, just about ready to attack, and tuck in, getting a tiny leap off the corner's exit before having the door shut as the Starion's rear tires hooked up and propelled it forward.

They didn't even have to pass the third bridge to decide who was the victor... Kyoichi let off the gas just before the lane-merging corner, the fire in his eyes dying a little."What the hell...", he muttered, "That car puts its power to the ground better than Nakazato could muster in his 32."

-

Akiyuki was about 15 miles away from Shibuya, cruising down a lonesome freeway at midnight. Riding the middle lane, he would pass through a long, sweeping bend, and then enter a long-ish tunnel. Asuka's words still rang in his head.

_Try not to get yourself involved in a car battle. It ain't exactly racing for normal humans._

_What does she mean?_, he thought to himself. Windows rolled down, he was enjoying the echoey sound of his SOHC piece of work, listening to the mechanical symphony of its own that it created... definately a sound unique from smaller displacement DOHC I4's... but then also, a pair of engine notes.

"Six-cylinder... both of them..." And headlights, fast growing brighter. "And they're freakign _smoking..._ should I?"

His right foot let off the gas for a second, his left hand twitching to click on the blinker to get in the slow lane - but instead, firmly gripped the steering wheel as the gas pedal was slammed to the floorboard, the G54B being pushed for all its worth, the cars behind him closing in, and the speed rising. Third gear, fourth gear... he was at 5,000 RPM's in fourth, 225 km/h, as the two cars blew by on either side.

"S30!? And... what's that, a Toyota 2000GT!?"

Akiyuki grinned, even as the cars seemed to pas shim like he was moving still, he himself now intent to hang with them as long as possible.

"Hot damn, it is a 2000GT... but could that be the so-called Phantom Z?"

He even laughed out a little, somewhat sinisterly as something inside his head clicked, the tachometer approaching 7,000 RPM before he grabbed for fifth, seeing the two cars ahead brake heavy for traffic that wasn't too far infront oof the pair of chasing cars and the trailing Starion.

"Oh, man... this could get fun..."


	9. Chapter 9: A Second Life

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 9: A Second Life and a Second Chance.**

It was only a half hour since one particular Esso station in downtown Haruna closed, officially anyways, the town for the most part, asleep. But indistinct chatter could be heard from afar within the garage there, a few figures standing in the dim-lit light, surrounding a single old car. There seemed to be a tension of anticipation in the air, an eager anxiety that was almost killing.

"Alright, one more time!", a voice called out.

A starter motor then whirred for ten, 15 seconds, lazily cranking over an engine.

"Keep on it, don't cut the starter! I've got the fuel circuit."

An assortment of old parts were scattered around the car; a rear axle, a set of shocks and struts, exhaust parts... and an old engine, too. A carburaeted single overhead-cam, with its dirty air filter still attatched. The driver kept turning the engine over... and it caught! But only for a second, then died quickly.

"Give it a second", an older voice said, watching the activity over. They waited a minute or so, before getting a nod from the older gentleman, the person behind the wheel seeming to be unable to wait.. 

"Alright, one more time, guys. Come on!" The engine turned over and over again, until finally, it caught and kept running! Idling rery roughly, though... but it was _running_. A collective cheer among the group of the 5 men was raised, with an oh-so-familiar voice crying out in joy.

"AAAAAAAAAAGH! BANZAI! MY HACHI GO! MY HACHI GO IS NOW A HACHI ROKU!" It was none other than Itsuki Takeuchi, looking happier now than he ever was in his life - literally. "Oh, the 4A-GZE sounds so wonderful, doesn't it, senpai? Doesn't it remind you of the old days?" Clinging to his senior like a schoolgirl, Itsuki practically had hearts in his eyes - it was a collective effort, by all of the Speed Stars.

"Yeah...", Iketani replied, laughing nervously and scratching his chin. "We still need to tune the fuel map, but otherwise your turbo 4A-G is as good as ready. But you really need to thank Yuiichi for discovering that ad in the first place." And Itsuki did, turning to Yuiichi, bolting to him, and bowing repeatedly - about the most grateful person in the world.

"We all did it", Kenji said, chuckling. "We all pitched in our own little effort to make this work. But without your refusal to give up, Itsuki, it might never have happened. After all, you supplied us with the turbo from the old engine."

Another guy was there, as well... looking on, he gave a soft smile to his old friend, still watching the old Levin run in just the slightest bit of awe - it was the polar opposite of his reaction when _his_ car got his new engine, and it amazed him how excited Itsuki truly was. "So... I guess you're ready to take over for me for representing the Speed Stars, eh?"

It caused Kenji and Iketani to eye each other and burst out laughing, but Itsuki walked right up to him and said, simply enough. "I might be behind you, Takumi, but I'm not as far behind as I used to be. I'm a lot closer now, and with the engine change, suspension swap, and LSD installed into my Hachi-Roku, I may one day just challenge you yet."

But something was different about the way Itsuki said it this time. Usually, he'd say it out of jealousy, but... he was dead serious, and the look in his eye hushed the humor in Iketani and Kenji's faces really quick. Takumi paused for a moment, before replying in a fashion that literally dropped both Iketani and Kenji's jaws, and widened Yuiichi's eyes considerably. "Maybe you will be able to, Itsuki. That old 85 has evolved into an incredible car... I once challenged an 86 turbo like that, after all. If you keep at it, and keep practicing Haruna in it like you have, you could become a very fast driver."

Itsuki remained silent for 15 seconds, before his eyes started watering over. "Tak... Takumi..." Almost downright sobbing, he fell onto Takumi's shoulder, overswept by emotion. "Takumi... that's the best thing you've ever said to me! You... you're serious, right!? You're not kidding around?" Looking up at Takumi with puppy eyes, the other three Esso workers, both past and present, were in total shock and disbelief. "I mean it, Itsuki", Takumi said with a warm, friendly smile. "You're just about where I was a year ago. If you keep focusing and keeping your emotions under control, you may catch up to me in a few years. Remember, I started driving at 13, not 18."

"Takumi, you're seriously not playing around?", Iketani butted in. "I thought you might have been taking complements too far, but if that's so, then I really need to be on my best game and..."

Iketani frowned a bit, turning around and looking outside the garage at his Silvia. "...but I really can't practice much more... the CA18 is complaining a little now, and it's slowly getting worse... she's on her last legs. She's served me well for the years I've been driving, but I picked her up as an old car and her age is really showing now."

"Uhm..." Takumi muttered in thought, "Isn't there also an engine upgrade for the Silvia, as well? I thought Kenji's engine had more power..."

"That's right!", Kenji replied, "The SR20! Iketani, you could become Haruna's uphill ace if you had one of those installed! Weren't you saving up money for something, anyways?"

"Well... to be honest..." Iketani admitted, in the constant rough grumble of the untuned 4A-GZE, "I was actually trying to save up to buy a naturally aspirated S14... they're getting cheap now, and I figured maybe it would be better if I got a newer an dmore reliable car, but..."

Looking at the exposed engine compartment of the Levin, still devoid of its hood, he added, "Seeing this successful project complete makes me want to upgrade my Silvia into an even better car!"

Almost just as he said that, another blue car, witha very Silvia-like nose, happened to pull into the gas station, its beautiful driver climbing back ou, looking nervous and timid, but... willing to seek the destiny that possibly awaits her.

"Hey, uhm.. guys..", she said, Iketani's face turning pale and everybody else looking awkwardly at the situation... but thank God for Itsuki and his car.

"Uhm... wait, is that Itsuki's car? Is it being worked on?" Thak God for Itsuki, indeed. An engine change was always a good ice breaker for a sticky situation. "Whoa... a 4A-G? It's now an 86?", she said, looking at the car in slight wonder. "It's amazing... it's like Fujiwara's old car!"

"Anou...", Takumi said, scratching his chin abit and moving forward from Iketani and Kenji to make himself obvious, "My old car had a 4A-GE, not a 4A-GZE... and that one's turbocharged, with the turbo from his 3AC."

"Takumi!?!?" Mako jumped back, shocked, not having noticed him there. "Uhm... I mean hi... sorry, you... you scared me..."

"It's alright...", Takumi said, with a pretty emotionless face. "Although, I'm like a fifth wheel here... they all put in the work - especially Iketani."

"H... huh? Me?", Iketani replied - Itsuki scooting over to Kenji and whispering to his ear, "You on to him?", and Kenji replying, "Oh yeah.",

"Yeah, Iketani - every time I stopped by this week, you were instructing Itsuki and helping him along. You did a large part... with your knowledge, making the Silvia even stronger is a great possibility."

"Hm? But... what's wrong with the Silvia?", Mako asked Iketani, looking him dead in the eye - her presence alone causing her to blush greatly. "I... I uhm, only came here to stop by and see you guys for the first time in over a year, but is something wrong with the Silvia?"

"Well", Iketani said, looking rather cowardly... "The car's passed 300,000 kilometers, and the engine, suspension, and transmission are all starting to show their age... the car may break soon... but! I've been saving up the whole time to get an SR20 installed with a new transmission and suspension setup! I'm going to keep my Silvia alive for a very long time!"

"Notice how conveniently Iketani changed his story?", Itsuki whispered to Kenji. "Uh huh", he replied, with a nod.

"Why.. that's great, Iketani! I... I can't wait to see an SR20 early-model S13! Even though there isn't much difference between the Zenki and Kouki, it sounds exciting, Iketani-san!", Mako said, starting to get onto a roll here.

"Yeah... say... how's Sil-Eighty doing?", Iketani asked in reply, "And where's Sayuki? Working?"

Mako shook her head a little, giggling. "Well, my Sil-Eighty's engine is also getting a little old, but I'd like somebody to rebuild it... it might not be as fast as an SR20 swap, but I love her the way she is. And I'm not an uphill driver, so power doesn't matter much."

"Well...", Iketani said, gathering up his nerve. _Iketani, she's right here in front of you! This is your once in a lifetime chance to have a second shot! Don't hold back, give it everything you've got_, he thought to himself, and then finished his sentance. "I could rebuild it for you, Mako, free of charge, and source HKS or Nismo parts for a good price... it may be a little bit harder since the CA18 is always in the shadow of the SR20, but-"

"Really!? You would do that!?", she asked, gleeful, and her heart pounding with joy.

"Y... yes... I own a Silvia,after all, so I'm very familiar with the CA18..."

"That sounds great, Iketani! Please call me soon so you can drive it and find out just how close it is to needing a rebuild, will you?"

"Well.. I.. uhm... of OW! course", Iketani said, coughing - having gotten a pretty nasty elbow by Itsuki, along with the dirtiest look ever.

"You still have my number, right?", she asked Iketani, and he nodded, "I have it safely tucked away. Ja matta ne, Mako-san!"

"Ja!" Mako ever so gracefully ran back to the Sil-Eighty in her running shoes, climbing in and buckling herself up, before driving off in the blue hatchback, its engine sound echoing in Iketani's mind long after it disappeared from life.

"Oi... Iketani..." Itsuki said, somehow towering over him with an expression that showed he was about 3 seconds away from slaying him alive, "You better get that engine running _reaaaal_ smooth, _senpai_, or you'll be eating its turbocharger..."

Well, the good news for Iketani was, his dreams were never totally killed. The bad news was, he just put himself chin-deep in boiling water with both Itsuki and Kenji. It makes one wonder; which fate is worse? Dying from a broken heart or dying from a broken neck?


	10. Chapter 10: Ultimate Limit

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 10: Ultimate Limit**

It was an overnighter, the final efforts of Iketani Kouichirou and Itsuki Takeuchi put together - the rest of the team having long been gone, but the two slaying over and sweating through the night - over what, you ask? Beyond all the mechanical parts were other things that Itsuki personally wanted to see to . He wasn't kidding about turning his once-junker Levin SR into a tuned GT-APEX. He had also ordered an entire box full of spare parts in his arsenal - two gallons of Toyota Super Red paint and one gallon of generic Jet Black paint, a Nadro Torino steering wheel, and a quick release mount for it. There was also an Austrailian-market grille in there as well, that's been dipped in chrome, along with 5-spoke Enkei wheels in bronze finish matched to , suprisingly, 50-series Yokohama tires with an agesssive summer tread. What also lied next to the new wheels were a set of smaller Yokohama tires with a less agressive pattern and deeper tread... snow tires, for short.

In another box was the usual swimming-pool-amount of foam don't-break-me fittings and within that was also a new set of smoked rear taillights, with upper and lower trim. There were also budget-but-still-light-and-fairly-comofrtable racing seats ready to replace the current slide-around ones and strut tower braces, front and rear. Not only was it a full conversion to an AE86, but even now unpainted as it was, picturing it revealed a pretty car, if not looking much more than stock. Another msall package contained a "GT-APEX" sticker and a "Twin Cam 16" sticker, both in grey, actually. The final items were a black spoiler sourced from an AE86, but perhaps atop of all, the rarest and most interesting item that had even Iketani suprised when he opened the box; a digital gauge cluster, along with a steering column pod mount for the boost gauge and the unit itself. While the boost gauge was unsubstantial...

"Whoa, Itsuki... you didn't tell me about this! I didn't even know the AE86 had one of these!", Iketani said, at what was now 1 in the morning, examining it very closely.

"Yeah..." Itsuki said, chuckling a small bit as he took it from Iketani's grip and held the stock cluster next to it. "I was suprised to discover they existed, too, but I was also able to find it in a junker hachi-roku. Amazing the driver didn't keep it."

"Amazing indeed... your hachi-roku should definately look set-out from the other Levins with this grille... but tell me, Itsuki, it's an aftermarket one, right?"

Itsuki shook his head. "Nah, it's from the Austrailian-market hachi-roku. And apparently, they only got the Levin. But still... oh, man, Iketani. You have no idea how long I've waited for this day!"

"Indeed", Iketani nodded, with a look of pride on his face.

At 6AM, two hours before the Esso opened, after all the inside work was done and the trim pieces fitted and taped off, and a 'bubble' of plastic wrap set up around the area of the car, and the car's paint itself looking very dull and a few places where there were minor dents bondoed away and smoothed out, Itsuki stood before the 86 dressed in all white, and wearing a dust mask, armed with a paint gun. With a single pull of the trigger, black paint began spraying out in a fine, steady stream, Itsuki's old 85 only 2 or 3 away from being his ultimate Dream 86.

-

Back, the night before, things were beginning to heat up huge-time on the Wangan circuit. For quick review, Akiyuki Suzaki got passed from either side by two classic sportsters; a silver Toyota 2000GT and a midnight blue Nissan Fairlady Z, both probably north of 300 kilometers per hour, and Akiyuki had decided to join in on the fun, gunning the Starion for all it was worth, although the G54B was definately out-classed by whatever inline-six power rested under the hoods of the two mysterious GT's.

"Traffic up ahead... _yosh_", Akiyuki said to himself, noting the two cars slow way down for a slightly congested pack of traffic. It took him but 8 seconds to gain with the three, now all three cars traveling at about 90 kilometers per hour in the middle of a pack of traffic, Akiyuki's wedge seeming to be horrendously out-of-place with this out-of-the-blue pack of econoboxes and light trucks, the three Wangan runners effectively blocked any further progress from any of the three... until the Z jammed on its brakes for a quick second, diving all the way to the left side, and Akiyuki also following in his Starion, as the shoulder lane widened enough to pass traffic - illegally - on the left.

From there, Akiyuki saw the Z just squat and _vamoose_, in disbelief to the way it just giddy up and went, struggling, hustling, trying to hold on... but the Z just putting itself further and further in his head. Akiyuki's concentration was broken for a second as a car in his rearview continually flashed its highbeams and honked its hors... as if in this moderate pack of traffic, he could go in another direction, doing 250, 260, now 270 kilometers per hour, and reaching the top end of fifth gear. 15 seconds later, the traffic pack finally broke, but as Akiyuki tried to search ahead... he found that the Z was long gone. And the 2000GT from before pulled in front of him and began slowing down, blinkers on. The Toyota wanted Akiyuki to stop.

It only took a second for Suzaki to realise this was a great chance to meet the other fast car from the picture, the one he heard little to none about, only the fact it could keep up with - but not pass - the Phantom Z. Coming to a very slow rest, the young ex-WRC star climbed out of the Starion with a bit of a look of awe at the 2000GT - it was rare to see a beauty like this one, especially a - just like his U.S. market Starion - left-hand drive model. He watched as both doors popped open, and two figures stood out. It was quite different to what he expected; perhaps a gruff, old WRC star who had one o fhis old co-pilots in the passenger seat. Instead, he got eye candy appeal for both the male and female gender to gander over.

One was wearing a pair of red Momo driving shoes with white laces, very Schumacher-esque, and black socks, with a pair of stylish casual charcoal grey dress pants sporting high-cut legs, thus exposing the socks, along with a black leather belt holding the pants in place. From the pants up, the attire wasa dark-red tee shirt overlayed by a black sport coat. And finally, on top, was a pair of red-tinted aviator glasses that were quickly removed. On the driver's hands were a red pair of driving gloves, as well, and they stood on. The final touch was a single small crimson earring on the left ear, small like you would find on a diamond. The other figure was wearing gleaming blue dress shoes with long, black pantyhose going up to about mid-thigh, and a blue mid-length skirt that matched the shoes, save for a light blue stripe pattern that followed around horizontally. Above that was a small section of intentionally exposed skin revealing a not-very-thin-but-not-unattractive waist section, and a white button-up shirt that was also overlapped by a blue overshirt. No driving gloves here, but there was stylish half-rimmed blue glasses that stood on, with a progressive-tint frame. There were wonderful half-moon-shaped ear-rings on this figure, in reflective silver. Naturally, the male was the former and the female was the ladder.

Yet, as different as they were in apparel and gender, they both were strikingly similar. They both had caucasian... and pale at that... tone skin, were both about the same height - which was a very tall 6' 4", for the record - and both had long, straight, silvery hair that fell down to about 3 inches below their shoulders. For the male figure, he was a handsome - gorgeous, even - looking young man. But somehow, attractive as he was, definately rock-star material - at least in Japan, anyways - he was devoid of those regular girly pretty-boy characteristics. He was just masculine enough in facial complexity that there was no question to his gender. As for the female, she was jaws-to-the-floors _smokin' hot_, as any hetero man would put it, at least. The breasts - large, wholesome, and even through the bra and double-shirt, obviously packing some weight to them - no doubt natural, also sporting a rather large and decidely meaty rump... just what Sir Mix-a-Lot ordered. In short, Playboy-girl material. But, sorry, guys and girls, the one other detail they also shared identically were a pair of beautiful diamond wedding rings on their ring fingers. They were the kind of couple that were so great looking, you could only by jealousy hope their children came out ugly as sin. Another very unique feature both of them sported were - _get this_ - elfen-like ears, protruding about 5" out from either side - and either's pair twitched slightly to the sounds they heard.

"Now, young _boi_, just _whut_ were you _dew-ing aut_ there?", the woman figure asked, speaking in English, with a unfamiliar and heavy accent. Unique like the rest of her, for the most part.

"Easy on 'im, he probably didn't know much better.", the man responded, looking to her. He had a very Northern accent... very New Jersey-ish, as a matter of fact. The type of accent that would make a Michiganite laugh every time one would say "Autozone", for instance.

"Shut up, _hubby_, I'll do the talking first, thank you very much", the woman replied, still carrying the heavy accent. author's note: I'm way too damn lazy to keep typing to exxagerate her accent

"Now then...", she continued, eyeing over the boy as she withdrew a thin cigar from... nowhere, seemingly and placed it in her lips, cupping her hand around it and the cigar then appearing lit, although how it was lit remains a mystery to this day. She continued forward until her figure towered over Akiyuki's small body - the hight difference putting Akiyuki's face square where just about any striaght man could only wish his head was. "You saw there was a race going on, and yet you got in the way. What are you, green to the rules of wangan?"

Akiyuki looked up, blushing deeply and trembling a little - not from intimidation, but actually, sexual... _tension_. "Well...", he tried to reply, in a low squeak, "Not... uhm... really..."

"What's that? I can't hear ya, boy. Do I need to lower myself to your head level or can you speak up? Or are _these things_", She said, grabbing the back of Akiyuki's neck and literally asphyxiating him with her rack, before pushing his head back - Akiyuki now in a state of utmost disbelief, for the record, - and continuing, "...distracting ya?"

The man couldn't help but to laugh rowdily at the situation, observing both the look on Akiyuki's nose-bleeding face and Karie's desdpan, sarcastic stare back at him. "You're going on him way too hard, girl.. and that kid's pretty good, for the record. 'is name's Akiyuki Suzaki, he's a WRC star who's career was self-terminated by bad fortune on his own and his sister's parts. So lighten up on 'im, willya? And let's introduce ourselves", he suggested.

"Oh _sure_, your mighty majesty", she replied, crossing her arms as he hopped off the quarter-panel of the 2000GT and approached Suzaki, chuckling a bit. His crimson eyes seemed... very... familiar. And similar but yet somehow opposite to the woman's mesmerizing blue eyes... that detail offset in Akiyuki's memory by how close he was to her breasts.

"For one, my name is Kealan Sandars, and that's my wife-by-pregnancy, Karie..", he said, glancing to Karie and giving her a stupid grin.

"Shut it, it was by love, you nit", she huffed - although she appeared to be struggling to keep a straight face now. She was also speaking Japanese for the moment, albeit with a hilariously foreign accent.

"And you kind of cut us off there, Akiyuki-san. What gives? It isn't like your style to try to block traffic with a drastically-slower car. You saw our speed when we blew by the Starquest, right? You should've just let us be."

Before Akiyuki could get in a word in, Karie continued to Kealan, "What difference does it make? We still can't pass that fking car, what would be different this time?"

"Meh... you're just being skeptical", Kealan replied, brushing off Karie's words like nothing and looking Suzaki in the eye once more. "Anyways, what gives, man?"

That accent... he's heard it somewhere before, but where? "Well... I seriosuly never wangan raced before, but... Kealan, do I know you from somewhere? I've never seen you before but... you're horribly familiar..."

"If I said I was a hardcore lover of the 60-chasis Toyota Celicas would that make life any easier?", he said, supressing a small chuckle. "Perhaps... a particular white-and-grey Celica Coupe, running a 1JZ-GTE? That ring a bell?"

"!!!" Looking up to Kealan, his eyes widened - yes, it had to be him! How was beyond Suzaki's comprehension, but there was no more doubt to who he was talking about! The color of his hair... and those crimson eyes. No doubt about it; the name was different, but it was totally him.

"Ka... ka... Kaworu-san!? But your name... and height... your ears... but how!?"

Kealan just short of chuckled and rolled his eyes a small bit, before patting Suzaki's hair and ruffling it a little bit, giving Suzaki a warm smile. "It's a long and complex story, old buddy, but yeah - it's me. Just remember to call me Kealan. Now then - what brings you from your little hideout in who-knows-where and your little garage of custom Starion parts out in the woods onto the Tokyo Wangan? Anything here catch your eye? Rumors of the Devil Z, perhaps?"

"..._Devil_ Z? You sure you don't mean Phantom Z?", Akiyuki asked, with a bit of a bit of a curious look.

"Phantom Z? Who the hell's calling it the Phantom Z? It's the Devil Z", Karie blurted out, giving Suzaki a bit of an odd stare.

"Uhm... Asuka was talking about it - the description is identical to the-"

"Asuka said it? Heh... that figures. The next thing she'll be telling you is it's called a Phantom Z because it's so fast it's probably the ghost of an old racer driving it... right?", Kealanasked, shaking his head.

"Well, no, she said nothing like that. All she said was only Misato Katsuragi and a car description matching yours could keep up with it. That's it."

Kaworu chuckled feintly. "Well, at least not that much is off. She's right for the most part... Misato could only keep up and as far as the moment is concerned, it's the same for me... however, I believe the Z is reaching its ultimate limit. And when I do pass him, I'll finally find out who's behin dthat wheel... if he's still alive by then."

Akiyuki canted his head to the side a small bit, not quite sure of what to say. "Uhm... ultimate limit? And... if you can keep up, how can't you pass?"

"Well, the second one, kid, is simple", Karie butted in back in English, Akiyuki's head turning to meet her. "Ever heard of drafting, boy? When you move through the air, you carry a slipstream of air with you. This creates a small suction. At high speeds, the effect is drastic - enough for a car at 300 kilometers per hour with a fifty horsepower deficiency but an otherwise identical car to keep up with the lead car by making use of that he stays in the slipstream. Simple, eh?", Karie said, a small, thin line of smoke rising up from her cigar. "Now then, for the first part, everytime we try to follow the Z, the car's gotten progressively faster... from about three-hundred and twenty kilometers per hour to four-hundred and thirty-five to date. But each time since about 425, the increments in speed between runs have been progressively smaller. From ten-kilometer-per-hour increments to a six-kilometer-per-hour difference past 415, 5 from 421, and two-kilometer-per-hour increments these past two runs. We believe the car's absolute top speed is four-hundred-fifty kilometers per hour if it got a little more aerodynamically improved. But that engine's at its limit, it's probably a turbo L28 bored and stroked."

"So then, the ultimate limit you're talking about... is its highest top speed?", Akiyuki asked, adding two-and-two.

"Yep, that's about the gist of it, Suzaki-san... and we're one step away from Highest Tune for our 2JZ-GTE."

"_2JZ-GTE_!? No wonder you can keep up with him! I was thinking maybe a 7M, or probably even a 1J, since the engine's been around longer and better known, but jeezus, a 2JZ-GE under the hood of that!?" Akiyuki's jaw dropped. "This I gotta see."

And so Kealan freely opened the 'hood' of the 2000GT - but Akiyuki was wowed by the affect of that alone, first.

"Wow, you even replaced the hood, bumper and fenders with a single fiberglass nose piece! It's gotta be great for weight and aerodynamics", Akiyuki said with a grin. "And... wow. Jesus. Just, jesus. You switched from true twin turbo to sequential twin turbo... one medium-sized spool and one downright massive spool... an appropriately large radiator... intercoolers on either side, excellent custom duct-work... high-voltage ignition module, yes, yed... a fairly stock looking basic 2JZ-GTE layout save for the - hey, it's got manifold -feeding ITB's, just like my G54B! But the core engine itself looks pretty stock."

Kealan chuckled in a very low tone. "That's the whole point", he said, closing the single-piece nose/hood/fenders of the 2000GT. "It _looks_ relatively stock, but the way it performs is an entire nother story. The engine's had internals built of exotic materials such as titanium, stroked to 3.2 liters, and overall just completely race-trimmed the engine. Hell, the HKS factory JZA70 race team doesn't have an engine this good. The final step for my GT is boring it to 3.4 liters and installing underbody diffusers and such, and with any luck, those modifications - especially the second - should raise my absolute limit to between 475 and 500 kilometers per hour."

"Five-hundred...", Akiyuki said, staring at the car in disbelief, "That's godly speed! Even I'm not crazy enough that fast... What kind of normal person would drive such a beast?"

"Oh, what, kid, like the pointy ears weren't enough to let you know? We're not _normal_, incase your fluffy little head of hair didn't figure it out. We're here to rule the wangan. Nothing more, nothing less. When your husband isn't an EVOLUTION pilot no more, and the Angels stopped attacking 2 years ago, what else do you think an ex fighter jet pilot pursues? Speed... naturally.", Karie said, explaning and being blatantly obvious in her usual sarcastic fashion.

Karie was right, for the most part - what else was there for a city's savior to do in Tokyo that could possibly be pursuing the fastest Wangan runner in all of history?"

-

In the town of Nikko, the same morning, two figures sat at a diner, being served coffee by a sleepy-eyed waitress. She looked around, not noting any other customers, before strolling back over to behind the countertop, observing the two fellas - and also, looking out the window, noticing a white fastback-style sports car sitting beside a hpped-up black sedan, with "Emperor" written on the side in white text neatly below the rear side window.

"So, what brings me out here?", the figure dressed in white asked, sipping a cup of coffee slowly.

"I apologize for dragging you out here at this time of the morning, but this is a rather pressing matter, Ryousuke-san.", he said, stating it clearly. The man was none other than Kyoichi Sudoh, complete with his pretty badass-looking bandana wrapped around his hair.

"Well, what seems to be the issue, then, Sudoh?", he asked, one eyebrow slightly raised.

"It's that WRC driver, Akiyuki Suzaki. And that Mitsubishi Starion of his. He's absolutely leathal, and out prowling the streets suddenly.", Kyoichi said, narrowing his eyes a bit, and lacing together his fingertips on the table.

"Yes, I know... my brother had a bit of a semi-personal encounter with him on Akagi... but how'd you find out so fast?", Ryousuke asked, taking another sip. "It's not like you're that hot into Project D, nor can word possibly spread that fast."

"...I met him personally.", Kyoichi said, looking a bit downward of Ryousuke, eyes not meeting between the two.

"...so you did. Did you win against him or race against him?", Ryousuke asked, with his ever-information-recieving stare.

"...No. I raced his Starion, and lost. The car's ability is about that of the Trueno's, with one exception; horsepower. And the driver knows how to handle... at least more horsepower than my Evo, although probably not much more."

"...he... defeated you?", Ryousuke said, with a raised eyebrow, not sipping any more. "On your home course? Maybe you _are_ losing your touch."

"Hell no", Kyoichi said, chuckling and eyeing Ryousuke back again. "He just performed a reckless maneuver that even I don't have the lack of sense to attempt, and got lucky. That's all. Then he out-accelerated me on the straightaway."

"Reckless maneuver?", Ryousuke asked, looking more interested than ever, before taking another sip of his coffee. "Go on, Kyoichi, please... tell me everything about his technique and this maneuver you speak of..."


	11. Chapter 11: Karma comes back around

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 11: Karma comes back around**

"WOOOOOOW!", Kenji shouted with a look of amazement at the gleaming Panda Red AE85 Levin, looking practically brand new in the sunlight, its red paint... so... so bright... and wonderfully factory. And the 5-spoke rims... and that chrome slotted grille that set it apart from the domestic Levins... it was such a drastic improvement from the way the Levin originally was... truly a class-act turnover from the way it was to the way it is. Looking even more agressive than ever, all the little detailed modifications added up to turn the little once grocery-getter into what looked like the younger sister of the JZA70 TRD Supra.

Indeed it was, Itsuki thougth to himself, Indeed it was, and he couldn't help but to smile proudly at his work, treasuring the AE86 for what it was worth; in other words, _everything a dream car meant to him_. Never mind the camber adjustments, the coilovers, the high-rev TRD engines, the 6 speed transmissions or any of that crap. This was his dream 86... not too slow, not too fast, not too dull, not too flashy... _just right_. And it was rightly appointed to Itsuki's every single wanting need. Kenji couldn't help but to ee over every single inch of the car in the sunlight, his jaw still hanging wide open.

"It was an all-nighter, Kenji. Me and Iketani got her running perfect!", Itsuki said with a childlike expression of glee."Not an ounce of sleep." Iketani nodded slowly using a broom to help support himself up as he sweated under the afternoon sun, amazed that Itsuki was anything close to awake. All the work he's done over the past 3 nights, he should have been dead! But he was still jumping around like a little fox - albeit with bags in his eyes, but still running like a bandit. A truly amazing feat, it was. But - was it right on cue? Itsuki tugged at the manager's shoulders as he also stared pan-eyed at the completed 86, looking like it rolled out of the showroom.

"Hey, Yuiichi, can I please take a nap in your office? I spent all night working on the hachi-roku and now I want to take a drive later, but I'm afraid if I didn't sleep I'd be tired on the road. Please?"

"Heey...", Iketani mumbled, butting in, "Can I rest inside, too? Just wake me up around eight with Itsuki..."

Yuiichi laughed a little, scratching his chin, before turning to Kenji. "I'll pay you cash if you work for the day and let these two workdogs off the hook, they look like they're zombies...", he said, looking slightly hopeful.

"Well... hmph." He pointed a sharp finger at Iketani and said with a bit of a sarcastic smirk, "I'll work for Itsuki's sake and participate today, but I don't think lover-boy should have it so easy, given the _circumstances_ he's under. I'll bet you just wanna go _cruising_ with Mako later, don't cha, ya-"

"Lighten up, Kenji! Give Iketani a break, everyone deserves a second chance, you know...", the Manager added, looking Kenji seriously now.

"Well, hell... alright, I'll give the kid his break..." Kenji replied, before climbing into his RPS13 and moving it over behind the Levin - almost intentionally bumping it Almost.

-

"So what brings you out here, anyways?", Kealan Sandars asked Akiyuki, curiously. "I thought the accidents you and your sister drove you away from racing. At the very least... how dead scared you were when I was with you, that night in 1995... I never thought I'd see you exceeding the speed limit again."

Akiyuki shook his head lightly from one side to the next, before looking Kaworu in the eye. "I told that to myself too, and I guess I'm at least half keeping the promise I made... it's other drivers out there that I'm looking at... maybe looking for. You know me, you and Kasumi got this organization started back in 1990, and with the funding she's gotten and the support from her IRL author's note: the acronym "IRL" is being used in this instance to define the Indy Racing League, we still have a very big gig. It's hard to give it up, but... with nobody behind the wheel..."

"I see where it's going", Kealan said, with a smalll chuckle and an upwards smirk at Akiyuki. "And I understand your intentions, but, Akiyuki-san, aren't you looking in the wrong places if you're trying to sniff out talent? What about the GT300 racing right here, or the go-kart circuits in America? _Or_ even Formula 3000? This whole tou-ge thing I don't understand for the life of me. What kind of talent could possibly be hidden amongst a vast group of early-to-late-20's kids, essentially, at least by the way most of them act, runnning amok on little side roads in the middle of the night? It's like WRC without the action."

"When you see nineteen-year-old Fujiwawa's driving, you'll change your mind, and fast", Akiyuki replied, unusually sternly for his soft personality. There was a light streak of defiance in his green-hazel eyes, and a bit of a blazing aura to his mood. It caused Kealan to raise one eyebrow, corssing his arms.

"...you're serious, eh? Well - I did hear that this whole Project D thing's last match was against a 959 and a rediculously modified old-school naturally aspirated RX-7, and that the kid managed to pull a disappearing line on the RX torwards the final stratch and out drag-race the slightly power-to-weight deficient - barely, but just enough - to a photo win." Kealan paused for a moment, taking another drag of his cigaratte, as Karie lay mainly dormant on the rear hatch of the 2000GT, her smirk only growing as Kaworu went on.

"Getting interested yourself, baby?", Karie asked, looking Kealan up. Her blue eyes seemed to just be studying the pair as both her legs swung back and fourth, dangling from the hatch area and just hovering over the ground. Even if she told you her age, if her appearance didn't make you shake your head in disbelief, the somewhat child-like cuteness she managed to possess in the way she acted at times would.

"Idunno... say, the next Project D race you go to", Kealan said, looking to Akiyuki with definately a bit of peering curiosity in him, "fill me in on it, okay? I'd like to see them in action myself. I thought the rumors about the 86 driver's skill were exaggerated, but... hearing it directly from your mouth, it's not something I can actually ignore."

"I'll let you know, Kaworu-san", Akiyuki said with a small, reassuring smile. "Definately!" Akiyuki then hopped off the hood of his Starion, observing the heavily aerodynamically modified 2000GT. "By the way... what's the horsepower you're achieving to make it to 500 kilometers per hour?"

Kealan shrugged a little, not sure how to answer. "As much as it takes... eleven-hundred horsepower, a thousand, maybe even just nine-hundred... I don't dyno the car or anything, I just measure it by top speed, and continually adjust gearing so I don't rev past 7,500 RPM at full throttle. If it's over nine-hundred, though, then there's no doubt about it - the S30 has to be running an RB25 or an RB26 series engine. It even sounds like one, so..."

Kealan snuffed out the cigarette on the surface of his hand, not as much as anything remotely resembling burned skin being left after the cigarette was put out, him opening the 2000GT's door, and looking to face Suzaki one final time. "I'm going to get running now. I can't let any bad-guys in Tokyo have their way, if you know what I mean." He let out a small chuckle, watching his wife climb in the car with him, before he started up the 2000GT and rolled off, leaving Akiyuki standing there, just for the time being, remaining motionless.

"The cars are engineered sheerly for top speed? That's outright rediculous, but... it's nothing like mountain pass racing, or curcuit racing. Definately not my bag of chips." He fastened the seatbelt to the Starion himself, slowly pacing back up to highway speed, making a turnoff headed into Shibuya. He, after all, had a date out with his sister, to catch up on life and such.

-

Evening.

Yuiichi observed the two sleeping men taking up some of his office space in the gas station store, amazed that even with the AC broke, they could manage to get shut-eye in the 90-degree area. It was quite a feat... but now the sun was set, and it was about 9 PM, give or take... The boys had 9 hours of rest, and now it was time to shoo them both out for the evening.

"Come on, get up, you two...", he said, pushing the pair off the couch, one at a time - and the two hitting the floor with an audible _THUMP_ before rising to life, groggily. "Jeez...", Yuiichi said, observing them, "Just how hard did you two work? That much sleep shoulda had you two kickin' by now!"

"Sorry, manager...", Iketani mumbled, stumbling about, headed in the general direction of the bathroom, "lemme splash some water on my face...", he added, swaying back and fourth. He returned looking a little better for the wear, hell almost energized... then watched Itsuki, who was next in line - seeming to be almost in worse shape than Iketani. But his trip to and from the bathroom produced similar results, two soaked-and-unbrished-haired figures looking like they just rolled out of bed, but ready for a day of whatever.

"I'll give you two the benefit of the doubt and pay you both for the day", Yuiichi mentioned humbly. "Even though you snoozed right through it... the work you've put into the 85 Itsuki, is incredible. And you deserve it, too, Iketani, for helping him along. And, hey... isn't he finally within 15 seconds of the record Takumi set racing Ryousuke?"

"...Yeah", Kenji said, walking through the door. "I timed his run in the passenger's seat last week! Who knows how fast he'll be with the taabo hachi-roku once he learns to handle the newfound power?"

Iketani jumped in suprise; that was as fast as he was running just a month ago! "You're serious, Kenji!?", he asked, looking slightly dumbfounded. "Yep!", he replied, with a bit of a chuckle. "Didn't catch it on tape since I don't have a camcorder, but his driving ability's really improved since Takumi left for Project D. Word around town is, you're pretty fast yourself, despite a dying car."

"Yeah, I've been practicing hard... my HS13 still isn't all that great... but she's getting there...", Iketani nodded, with a small smile. "I can't wait to find an SR20!"

"Hehe, yeah...", Itsuki butted in, "But hey, I think I'm going to take my taabo hachi-roku for a long drive tonight, guys! So, I'll catch you all later!" He suddenly sprinted out the door, excitement in his eyes. Firing up the 4A-G and fastening his seatbelt, he could barely contain his joy.

"Wait until I get to saitama, Wataru-san! You may have overlooked my Levin in the past because it was a hachi-go but there's no way you'll only give it a passing glance now! I can't wait to show her off to a fellow Levin fan!"

-

Suzaki parked in a small exposed lot in the west side of Shibuya, behind, of all places, a Burger King. A beautiful wedge-like sports car was in the spot next to him, and Suzaki couldn't help but admire its mirror-like black finish. It was just so new, and... literally _radiating life_! It was a Lotus Esprit, the Sport 300 model, repainted and lightly customized in appearance, and it couldn't have looked better.

"So shiny...", he said, slightly mesmerized by the paint job, and trailed a single finger down the hood line of the car - noticing how _warm_ the sheetmetal was. And somewhere in the back of his head, he thought he could hear a girl supress a giggle.

"Eh?" - Akiyuki shook his head, looking around, and seeing nobody... then walking back around to the front of the resturant, walking inside, and ordering himself a fish sandwich meal. He looked at his cell phone while eating, as if waiting for a call.

-

Ryousuke Takahashi and Kyoichi Sudou were once agains tanding beside their cars, eyeing the other target in a familiar once-over fashion, chuckling. The location was Nikko Irohazaka, at the top of the mountain pass down the one-way road that was almost rediculously narrow. Both figures seemed to be in a state of mutual confidence, and coolness.

"It's only right, don't you think, Ryousuke?", Kyoichi questioned, standing beside his recently updated Evolution III. "I had a hometown match against you on Akagi... but I never returned the favor by offering a private match here, with no gallery. Knowing you, you probably wouldn't do that technique for the sake of your car, but it's forbidden from being executed regardless. That doesn't sound unfair, does it?"

"No...", Ryousuke replied, looking to the side and down, staring at the hood of hid FC, almost looking _through_ it, seemingly, and at his single-turbo 13B rotary engine. "It doesn't sound the slightest bit unfair. After all, it's not legal in motorsports to take a shortcut across the grass to avoid a hairpin... why should the street be an exception?"

"Good point...", Kyoichi replied, finishing off the last of his cigarette and flicking it away. "In any regard, I hope you know that there will be no three-in-a-row hat trick here on Irohazaka. I'm suprised you even accepted this race to begin with, knowing full well you'll lose. The Evo is in its natural territory. There's no secret to driving here on Irohazaka aside from maintaining a perfect line and timing each corner compentently. I've heeded your advice... there'll be no sucky right-hand baits for me to offer you!" Kyoichi pointed a very decisive finger squarely at Ryousuke Takahashi, setting him in his sights, and awaiting his reaction.

"Given I don't race much often anymore, you may just be right... but sometimes, more can be gained from a loss than a win, Kyoichi Sudoh. And, besides... it doesn't matter if I win or not. This just a private match between us, without a crowd or anything. That said, I still have full intent on giving my all against you for one last round, Kyoichi."

"Same for me, too...", Sudou replied, taking off his light summer jacket and tossing it into the back seat, and also undoing his bandana. As per the last race, the two cars slowly pulled up to the enterance of the downhill road, the drivers eyeing each other once more... before this time, however, Kyoichi slowly rolled ahead and then gunned it, Ryousuke following in his white FC. They agreed to a Kyoichi-leading-Ryousuke start. Only a screw-up could ruin this win. For Sudou, anyways.

-

"Oh, Kazumi isn't around, eh?", Itsuki asked Wataru Akiyama, in a bit of a depressed tone. "I... I knew she chose that jerk over me, but, still... I was hoping she would at least be happy to see my car."

"No - although, I'll say, I'm incredibly impressed - technically, if we started our projects at the same time, you're well ahead of me, Itsuki." Wataru kneeled over, looking at the clean - well, for a 1984 model car, anyways - underpinnings and the suspension setup, clicking on a small Mag-Lite and observing the rear differential and suspension pieces. "I started with an 86 Levin, after all... you started with an 85. It's very enlightening though, to see this kind of heart and soul poured into an often overlooked car that's overlooked for good reason."

"Yeah...", Itsuki said, trying to supress a small blush - it was just the warmth building up in him, the goodness of the dedication he's poured into his ride, and now finally seeing the end result... he could barely stand still. He scratched his chin, before popping open the hood, although, before pointing anything out to Wataru - as if _his_ 86 used-to-be-Turbo hasn't seen similar modifications, asked him a simple question. "How's Kazumi's relationship going with her old boyfriend, anyways?"

"...nowhere good.", Wataru replied, giving Itsuki a bit of a you-shouldn't-have-asked-that look.

"...huh? But... I thought she liked him!" Eyes slightly wide with more confusion than anything, he gave Wataru a very, very worried stare. "She chose him over me, even...", he said, his voice dulling, adding "...so how could it be going bad?"

"Well... it's quite personal, so unless she tells you about it yourself, you didn't hear it from me, okay? I'm suprised she's even come to _me_ - she always likes to handle her life her own way - on this issue."

"Uhm... go on."

"She's still a virgin."

Itsuki blinked in ponder for a second - not exactly sure what Wataru was getting at. That was great and all, and it kinda gave Itsuki a small flicker of a hope somewhere in his heart, but... why would that be bad? "...what's the big deal about that?"

"...her boyfriend is quite intent on taking it away from her, they even got into an argument recently. A bad one. She had marks on her face, too. I wanted to step in, but she said she'd snap on me if I did and she has this handled. But she's a weak girl, both physically and emotionally... and she's in way over her head. She's going to get hurt, and I won't for the life of me want to see it happen!"

Itsuki saw the boiling rage starting to build up within Wataru, and the frustration. "She's come a long way but she's still too naieve to tell when things are really going bad...", Wataru continued. "But she acts like everything's A-OK. If... if he did do something bad to her... I... I'd kill him with my bare hands."

"That's... that's horrible!" Itsuki couldn't believe what he was hearing! Something that precious was something that in Itsuki's... quite innocent.. .eyes, those were the kinds of things that were shared between two people truly in love with one another, and it's without any question the woman's right to offer it, not the man's right to ask for it.

_Forget about the 4A-GZE_, he thought to himself, closing the hood of his car and looking at Wataru. "Do... do you know what he drives? I want to check around for his car, if he's local, I might spot it."

Wataru rattled off the liscence plate and make and model of the car, a late-model Nissan March, with fading green paint.

"I might not be as suspicious since my Levin's just been redone and nobody's seen it yet... especially now that it's red." He added, trying to convince Wataru. "She... I still love Kazumi, deep inside... I can't let anythng bad happen to her...", he said, tearing up a little - before dashing off into his Levin and taking off, fast. Thank god Itsuki kept the exhaust somewhat timid... it would help him sneak around. And Itsuki just had a horrible feeling about the night.

-

"I'll admit, you've come a long way since our last meeting as well, Sudou", Ryousuke said aloud to himself in the trail of the black Evo III's brake lights, already almost 3/4 way "This was something I didn't anticipate... or is it the fact that I've gotten rusty? Regardless - your skill and the Evo III's ability have improved together. The suspension is set slightly lower, and has more rebound, but less damping... very suited to the conditions of this road. Your rear wheels actually seem to be helping the car slide lightly... an infinitely-variable adjustable center differential."

Another hairpin passed, Ryousuke watching intently the lane-center line of Kyoichi's Evo, chuckling slightly as his eyes studied the black sedan's agile movements. Through his eyes, he could completely decypher the behavior of the vehicle itself, its nature and relationship between its driver... this Evolution was definately superior to modern Evos.

"So," Kyoichi asked himself, passing a quick glance to his rearview mirror, the flip-up headlights of Takahashi's white FC both quite apparent and on his tail, "What do you think of my practice, Ryousuke Takahashi? Do you like the way I've ever fine-tuned this car to perfectly suit my home course!? The final drive ratio's been enlongated so I only have to go between two gears for most of the past instead of three, the anti-lag system's response has been further tweaked. On top of that, I've introduced a smaller-sized but quicker-spooling turbo, not to mention the VCD and the AYC that I will be installing shortly after!"

"On top of that", Ryousuke added, ever studiously, "Your turbo response has reached the level of an NA tune engine. It's quicker than even Keisuke's twin-turbo system, and while acceleration seems to be slightly sacrificed, response is better throughout the rev range. It's definitely an adjustable center differential under there... I'm quite impressed, Sudou..."

He chuckled faintly. "You know", he added, "I can't deny that I actually kind of walked into this race without much of a strategy. This ending will most certainly be extremely interesting... especially given the defensive line you're driving that makes it nearly impossible to get my nose in and attempt a pass..."

-

Kazumi's heart was racing at a pace she never thought possible. Her head was hot, and her body shaking with fear - eyes wide open with only fear, and she herself crying out...

She was touched - violently - in places no man's ever touched her before. Not just touched, either... grabbed. _Hard_. "Souma, let go of me! Stop, you're going too-"

Kazumi was cut off as she was pressed against the brick wall in the back alley of a recently abandoned department store, light only being seen from one side as Souma's beat up Nissan March clattered at idle like an old diesel, its hopelessly worn out cam causing it to knock in a rather terminal fashion, only one of its headlights even working. "Shut up!", he said, smacking her hard across the face, intentionally lacing his fingernails into the smack, causing her cheek to sting horribly and begin to bleed.

Kazumi could only remain motionless there, her head throbbing and her thoughts jumbled. This wasn't what she wanted in the relationship between her and Souma, she wanted a happy, peaceful relationship together with him. Romantic dates shared, soft, relaxing support, the occasional "help me, it's late night and I just need someone to talk to" phone calls. It's what their relationship started out as. But in the past three weeks... something... change. He got more demanding around her, arguments started, even over the stupidest things, and above all...

What this was shaping up to. What she didn't want to give to him for the life of her, and what he threatened that he'd leave her if she didn't give it up. _What's going on!?!? Is this... is this even real? Souma... he's turned into a monster before my eyes! I I can't believe he's... oh, god, NOT THERE!_

She let out a cry - loud enough to mask the sound of any approaching cars - as his hands slid below her waistline, and into her garmets, him starting to do who-knows-what under there... although, just about anyone could figure it out. And it wasn't nice. "NO!", she screamed again, and he fought back, harder, smacking her again with his free hand, Kasumi's panic, fear, and confusion leaving her paralyzed, unable to run or fight back. And her eyes widened as one of his fingers traveled to a place where they didn't belong. Tears began streaming out of Kazumi's eyes as the grim reality began to set in that he was going to have her whether she wanted it or not, and as he said before he literally threw her out of the car and chased her down the alleyway, ditch her afterwards.

_Oh, God, please... if you really do exist... send someone... anyone... just please, spare me from this fate! I don't want this to happen... it's so wrong and unfair... I'm being violated... please... God... help me..._

All the commotion... the struggling, the noise Kazumi was making - Souma was not only not himself but very focused only on doing the unthinkable.

Then something completely unpredictable happened. His intruding hands fell weak, and she clearly saw his face get smashed against the wall next to her, before he was thrown off, his hand and confusion-frozen body suddenly freeing Kzsumi from his grip - Kazumi's knees giving way, her falling very weak, vision blurring out... The last thing Kazumi heard was the sound of something metallic falling on the ground... but by then, the panic had taken its toll... Kazumi passed out on the spot.

Kasumi woke up screaming, looking around, before someone "shh!'d", her. "Kazumi... you're safe, okay? It's over. The nightmare is over. You're with me now... are you alright?"

And praise God, before her two brown eyes, was the face of the _last_ person she was expecting to see... Itsuki Takeuchi.

_Itsuki came... to save me?_


	12. Chapter 12: Mutual hardships

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 12: Mutual hardships**

"..."

It was hard. I twas extremely hard for Itsuki to not slam the door to his Levin off its hinges. Looking down the alleway, he saw two figures in the dim illumination of one headlight - and heard the pleading voice that he hardly registered as Kazumi Akiyama's... most likely because of its dire tone, more fuel to the continually building fire of rage in Itsuki's heart. Kazumi was seconds away from being raped... and he wasn't about to let that happen, his vision so tunneled out on Souma he didn't even notice the quick flash of headlights from ebhind him. No, he just charged... charged straight for the boyfriend figure, and rammed his face into the cinder-block wall, being careful somehow not to injure Kazumi.

Itsuki watched Souma fall to the ground, his nose broken. The bash was rediculously strong. The rapist was done, down, out, left to the pavement... .and so was Kazumi, splayed out on the bare asphalt, her skirt slightly undone as well as her blouse - though no privates were showing... but it couldn't get any closer than that. Finally, the voice that was blurry and distant quickly cleared up.

"...believable! Itsuki, thank you so very much... he's out like a light bulb."

"Eh?" Coming quickly back to his senses, Itsuki's head snapped to face the person talking - Wataru.

"...eh heh... yeah, I guess... are you going to call the authorities, then?", Itsuki suddenly suggested... defeating his opponent and anihilating the target at hand drained all courage from Itsuki... his normal state of being timid and uncourageous was returning to him, and Itsuki just wanted to be out of the situation and back to his own buisness. And quick.

"No, I'm not... when this guy wakes up, I'll give him a set of words he won't forget... you take Kazumi home, Itsuki. It's... the least I can do to be nice. If I didn't see your Levin... and you didn't catch this... her life would have been ruined. So go ahead, take her home, to your place... catch up on life with her. I'm sure she wouldn't mind you comforting her."

Itsuki looked at the small set of keys he had, one silver, although a little tarnished... with 'TOYOTA' written on the side, then looked to Wataru, bearing a sense of uncertainty. "...You know what you're doing?"

Wataru nodded solemly, his gaze shifting back to Kazumi. "Yeah... you were the one who saved her after all, not me. Don't worry... I've got all bases covered here. My initial impression back when I met you was you were a better person, anyways... if she wants to return to me, she'll tell you. Good luck with her, Itsuki."

Itsuki dimly nodded, walking over to Kazumi slowly, and mustering all his effort to pick up her body, carrying her to the Levin in a fashion that was all too familiar for romantic movie buffs, and easing her into the passenger's seat, buickling up, and driving off back to Haruna for the time being.

-

Less than a meter seperated the Evolution III from the RX-7 Infini III, and though a normal person would be led to believe the FC's chances of winning were nil stock for stock - but both vehicles were in a high state of tune. The single-turbo power of the 13B rotary was nothing to be laughed at, despite the car being close to 10 years old.

There were ten hairpins left overall, and through the first and second, the Evo began to gain slightly on the RX, and gain the lead. The behavior of the Evo III changed mildly, but enough to bring the even battle to now one advantageous to the Mitsubishi. Ryousuke knew this, his FC leaving the corner's exit with a bit of an outward drift, his usual mid-apex approach seeming to refine itself just a tad more... but still he had nothing for Sudou. It was definately frustrating.

Another hairpin, then two, then three. The Evolution dove in hard with a late-entry approach, sliding slightly through the corner's exit before launching down the straightaway with the Evoltuion's relentless all-wheel drive traction.

"...and you were holding back? That's commendable, given the sutuation you were putting yourself in", Ryousuke said , with a bit of a chuckle. "Although that did kind of seal the deal for me... I'm suprised how much your modifications have improved the car's all around ability."

Kyoichi was also grinning widely in the tight embrace of his Recaro bucket seat, watching as the FC began to very slowly slip away from his rearview mirror - probably an inch a second, not much more than that, but it was pleasantly noticable and also evermore assuring to Sudou that this race was indeed in the bag.

"I'm more than happy not to spoil your reputation in front of a crowd", the Evo driver added, with a bit of a grin, "Since technically you are a retired racer. And it shows. Ryousuke, don't you know it's too late to attempt anything else?" He considered easing the pace just to toy with Takahashi - then common sense kicked back in. "No, I shouldn't be doing that... knowing you, Ryousuke, you'd make a win out of any advantage I gave you... which is suprising now that we're nine-tenths into the race and you still haven't made a move. Is this really all that's left of your driving skill?"

"The car doesn't feel right..." Ryousuke muttered, as the loss on the straightaway seemed to be more significant before. "Is something wrong with it?"

From the tips of Ryousuke's exhaust, a thin layer of white smoke was hardly noticable. The car was burning coolant... an internal seal, after all these miles, was beginning to give.

"A turbo leak... at a time like this? No...", he said to himself, a quick glance showing the turbo pegged to 19 PSI, "She's still steady boosting... but the engine feels taxed..."

Last hairpin. It was do-or-die for Ryousuke Takahashi. Even though the engine problems had left him distracted, he was still balls-to-the-walls... and almost crept back to Kyoichi's back bumper... ever so almost. But alas, it was the final straightaway, and to a race fan, it would be a shock - maybe even a disappointement - to any fans that were watching, luckily none were, though. The Evo continued to pull away from the FC right up until the third bridge, where there was a 50-meter difference between the two cars. It was a clear victory for Kyoichi Sudou, the fire dying in his eyes and his breathing slowing a little as he rolled to a stop. He chuckled again.

"Wow... you got me a lot worked up than I thought, Ryousuke. But why... why didn't you put up such a strong fight?"

Kyoichi exited his Evo III, cutting the engine as Ryousuke climbed out of his white RX-7, giving Kyoichi an honest look of acceptance of loss. "That was a good run, Sudou. It looks like you put my advice to good use, and have grown considerably in the past year."

Kyoichi's eyes narrowed a little, though. He had a look of disappointment on his face, and even a bit of offendment. "Why'd you give me the race so easily?", he asked, looking at the RX-7.

"I didn't." Ryousuke looked down a little, shooting the FC's hood a glance, then panning his stare back to Sudou. "Tonight proved 3 things. Your skill and your car has enhanced, my lack of practice from managing the team is becoming more and more obvious, and my FC is about as ready to retire from racing as I am. She started to lose power in the middle of the race... maybe 20 to 30 horsepower."

"You... you serious?" Kyoichi struggled to keep the cigarette on between his lips as he listened to the Rx-7 carefully, eyes narrowing. "I'll admit... something does sound a little funky." Then Sudou's nose caught a whiff of the burning coolant. "...smells sweet... coolant, maybe?"

Ryousuke turned around, pacing slowly to the back of the FC, then noticed the steam-like smoke faintly trailing out. Definately burning coolant. "Hmm... looks like the FC's also suffered from my team management. An apex seal has given, I believe. I haven't changed them in well over a year, and this car's seen a lot of racing in its day." Ryousuke stood back up, looking Sudou square in the eye. "A win is a win, no matter how it's obtained. Because my car wasn't running 100 right doesn't mean you should feel bad about it, like you cheated me out of a win. I only cheated myself by bringing a tool not cut out for the task."

Kyoichi laughed out loud a little, before taking a step back to his Evolution. "You know, that's one thing I always liked about you. Even though you almost always win, whether you win or lose, you're usually pretty humble about it. If not in wording then perhaps in attitude. I'll be on my way, then... that FC going to make it home, or should I go grab some antifreeze sitting in my garage?"

"It's only a 40 minute drive home. I'll top off the system with water at halfway."

"Well then, I'll catch you around sometime. Good luck with your next race, wherever it may be."

"Later, Sudou."

Ryousuke slipped back into the cockpit of his FC, closing the door and staring at the odometer for a good minute or so, wordless. Its mileage read 386,257... The FC had seen countless nights of nothing but driving and practicing, constant racing abuse, and hot summer periods. It had seen levels of boost not accounted for by Mazda's designing eingineers, and throughout its 8 years of existance, held up suprisingly well. In comparison, the AE86 was brand new to Ryousuke's FC. Its engine had been changed... the RX was still on its original drivetrain.

"I might have to take you off the road soon...", he said, sliding the shifter into first and gently pulling away. "I just don't have the time to keep up with a needy aging car anymore..."

-

Standing in the middle of a racetrack, in broad daylight... and under scorching heat, Akiyuki stood alone, somehow, in the midst of the roar of the crowd - and the sound of approaching engines. He glanced behind him - grandstands on either side, and a huge scoring tower and display. It was none other than the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His heart was pounding; something was wrong, terribly wrong. His sister was in the race, with a strong lead.

He was almost oblivious to the 9 or 10 cars that just zipped by at north of 225 miles per hour, the wind gust kicking up his light jacket and blowing his hair.

"Kas-chan!" He walked, forward, moving so slowly within this massive sea of asphalt, as in a trance. He moved against his common sense, against what a few fans were screaming at him to do... perhaps even, against whatever desire he had to live. His hand, outstretched , seemed to be reaching for something... anything.

"Kas-chan..."

Then, he saw it. Kazumi's car and her signature pink helmet, coming around the corner. Akiyuki broke into a full-on sprint as the track surface began to gather banking and he sprinted. He had to stop her. Something horrible was going to happen.

"Kas-chan!"

Her IndyCar headed directly torwards him at light speed, almost, it seemed. Akiyuki held his hands out as the car closed in, trying to hold on, trying to stop the inevitable... but...

Suddenly, her right-front wheel gave way. A suspension piece broke, the car suddenly switching direction, now heading torwards the wall at 200 miles per hour - and smacking it head on. The whole nose of the car seemed to snap off, its fuel cell bursting and 25 gallons of methanol igniting, turning the car into a twisty fireball of a tornado, everyone's hearts shattering as it flew through the sky.

"KAS-CHAN!"

And he remained motionless, time slowing down as he made no effort whatsoever to move from its way. The plastic, metal, carbon fiber, and of course flesh and blood-made mass of human and machine came straight down on Suzaki, first blocking all sunlight from him, and then...

He grabbed his chest, his breathing accelerated to hyperventilating speeds. Eyes wide open with fear, soon beginning to tear up, just a bit... the monotonous wait for his own sister triggered that nightmarish version of an already awful flashback.. But soon, he was able to control himself, returning back to normal breathing... before he caught a glimpse of the bright red sheetmetal of the car circling the lot. It was an old Honda Life Step Van, sporting 15" wheels that barely fit and was equipped with a modern-day CBR engine, and a CVT transmission... the side logo reading Suzaki Performance.

"Kas.. chan..."

Kasumi eased the van into a small parking spot beside her old Starion, giggling as she let go of the throttle lever of the right side of the steering wheel, and slid the gear selector into "park", before removing the key and unbuckling herself. Carefully, she climbed down... and out... of the van.

"Hey, Akiyuki-san!"

Akiyuki chose the van because for Kasumi's mobility and had the tailgate modified... still, it hardly opened.

"Kas-chan..."

Her face was an attractive mix of native american and caucasian, and she had black hair that flowed beautifully down to a few inches below her shoulders, with naturally narrowed hazel-green eyes that matched Suzaki's... but her most defining feature was a scar that started at her right eyelid and trailed down across her nose to her left cheek It was a scar from the accident.

Her upper body was also very slender and contoured, and she was viewed once as "the Supermodel of racing" for her appearance. Her waistline was also very thin - the similarities between her and her "little brother" - the irony that statement beared today is painful - were incredible. But now...?

She used one hand to shut the door, keeping herself balanced on the other before walking on her hands. 'I feel more free this way', she always said, and her arms were quite toned and suited to the task.

"Mind giving me a lift, little kid?", she asked Akiyuki... who kneeled down and hoisted Kasumi up, hugging her very tightly, before carrying her into the Burger King.

...Kasumi Suzaki lost her legs in the brutal and firey IndyCar accident that killed her teammate, Keith Hendershot, as they were leading the 1995 Indianapolis 500 1-2 by 7 car lengths on the 199th lap, and to this day continually plagues Akiyuki's memory from time to time.


	13. Chapter 13: A Spirit Among Us

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 13: A Spirit Among Us.**  
"Itsuki?"

Kazumi's eyes were still half shut as she came to, panning her head around and observing her surroundings. From what she could take in, she was in a car. No, not just any car, an AE86... either Trueno or Levin. She was buckled in, but they were at a stop at a senic overlook. It was early dawn, as well, the sun just beginning to break over the peak of Mt... Haruna. Yes, Haruna. They were in Itsuki's hometown, sort to speak.

"Hey... good morning, Kazumi." Itsuki gave a bit of a soft, reassuring smile to Kazumi, taking a yawn before glancing outside at the morning sky.

"You slept a very long time, Kazumi-chan... but of course, it's extremely understandable just exactly why..."

"Y... yes... that much is true..." Kazumi took a long sigh, looking at Itsuki Takeuchi in a completely new way. _He was the savior_?, she thought to herself. Eyeing him, and the way he was observing her closely to be doubly sure she was alright, she realised that it just _had to_ be him.

"He... he didn't do anything awful to you... did he?" He asked Kazumi, looking her square in the eye.

"Well... he almost did... he got really close..."

"I see. I'm just glad I caught him in time. Thank God you're alright. Honestly... I don't know what I would do with myself if I came too late..."

Kasumi blinked, eyes widening slightly. Itsuki was on the verge of crying, and the tone he put into what he was saying... It sounded like he was still in love with her. He was sincere... like she still meant a lot to him.

"Uhm... Itsuki, you don't need to worry so much... I'm alright, honestly... it's not like we're still going out..." Baring a little bit of an embarassed smile, she nodded to Itsuki.

"But I'll admit...", she added, I'm pretty shaken... maybe more than I'll let myself reveal. That was scary."

Itsuki nodded. "That's alright", he replied, returning the smile. "The point is you'll never see him again, I don't think. Uhm... Wataru came right afte rI did. He siad he'd straighten your ex out so you never see him again."

"Wataru came as well? I... I see..." Kazumi was slightly suprised to find that out, at least timing wise. So he knew something was wrong as well? Talk about coincidences. "Well.. I just want to put this behind us. Behind me, anyways.", she added, her mind made up. "It's going to stay in the past, where it belongs... I'm never going to talk to him again."

"Say, uhm, Kazumi...", Itsuki asked Kazumi, looking a little unsure of himself, as if he was forcing himself to be confident enough... "You said you want to put the past behind you, right?"

"...yes...?"

"Well then, why not replace a bad memory with a good one?"

"Such as what...?", Kazumi asked Itsuki, lookng a little interested... excited, even.

"Going out on a date.", Itsuki gasped barely, trying to keep himself from having a heart attack.

-

"So, you didn't tell him the truth, did you?" A pair of elven ears twitched, a set of deep blue eyes staring over another elven figure, looking a little bit unamused."

"Just like any other prying wife, ain't yah, Karie?" It was Kealan that she was looking down at, as he test-fitted a few other pieces to his completely altered 2000GT; a new underbody diffuser design that was a little bit more radical than the last time, and a set of carbon fiber vortex generators on the roof of the car, in an attempt to route more air to this new, radical, GT-style wing that he had fabricated.

"As usual." Karie smirked a little, her arms crossed as she watched him drill the holes in the aluminum body of the 2000GT where the spoiler would mount, and placing rubber spacers so it wouldn't rub the metal.

"Naw, what would be the point? Besides... even if I told him that the Z beared a spirit force of its own, I doubt the kid would believe him. It's not a human force, anyways, after all... It's just... there... and if I could manipulate it while driving it... who knows what would happen."

"What about the Z kid himself? Is he unique like the car?", She asked, lighting up another cigarette casually.

"No. Not really. The Z kid is just a victim of the car's spirit force. It drew him in emotionally and caused him to be... well, the best way to put it is lethally attatched. Some day, that kid's going to get himself killed behind the wheel. And its all going to be the car's fault, not his. The myth about killer cars is a reality." Kealan began fastening the wing to the 2000GT's silver sheetmetal; it matched the color of the car, just like the front diffuser, reshaped and redesigned nose, fender flares, and other doodads.

"No shit? Heh... odd. I'll bet I could get that Z running faster than you'd think of making it.", she said, narrowing her eyes and grinning.

"Well consider I'm made from you, Karie, and you _are_ the higher power... I wouldn't doubt it. Even if I'm half you, you're still 2 times greater than I am. Silly." Kealan started chuckling, moving in on Karie and pressing her against the door of the 2000GT, giving her a wild grin.

"Now you're just flattering me", she said in defense, knowing Kealan was at the very least, exaggerating just a little.

"Maybe I am...", he said with a chuckle, before pressing his lips against hers, temporarily forgetting about working on the 2000GT and placing all the focus on his wife...

-

Akiyuki Suzaki and Kasumi Suzaki both stood at a table in a Burger King within Tokyo, set in a calm manner of discussion between one another, catching up on the important things in life.

"It's good seeing you again, Kas."

"Same here, Aki-kun. How's life been treating you here in Japan?"

Akiyuki shrugged, then smiled a bit. "Fairly well", he said, in thought. "I've encountered a couple of drivers, and they all turned out to be interesting people!"

"Oh?", she asked Akiyuki, crossing her arms as she giggled a bit, picking at her meal. "That's unlike you, Aki-kun. You usually keep to yourself, and avoid racing at all costs. What changed that?"

Akiyuki smiled a little bit, leaning in closer to Kasumi, and changing his tone of voice, sounding truly excited. "Takumi Fujiwara-san did. His talent could exceed mine one day."

"Really!? ...that's quite a statement to come from your mouth, Akiyuki Suzaki. You're a living legend, despite your short career..." Kasumi dipped one of her fries in ketchup, then munched on it before taking a sip from her soda, moving the cup around a little and listening to the sound of the ice cubes clashing with one another. "You've grown quite a bit. You used to not want to be into racing... but I can see what you're thinking. You want Fujiwara as a driver, don't you?"

"Mmmh... perhaps, Kas. I'm not sure yet at the moment, but the prospect of having somebody behind the wheel for Suzaki Performance is a very tempting idea. Especially someone like Fujiwara. It could give our parts chain much more publicity, and maybe put us on the map as a dealer for restored Mitsubishi Starions and Chrysler Conquests."

Kasumi laughed a little, looking as cheerful and light as ever, despite her conditions or past. "You really do have a thing for my car, Aki-kun, don't you?", she asked, with a hint of delight. It was pretty awe-striking how lovingly he was attatched to that car, and the developments he _already_ accomplished for it. What was left to be done with it was anyone's guess. Even Akiyuki himself wasn't sure how much further it could go. Such as the idea for SOHC in a 3-valve head and cam design, so the stock Starion timing belt could still be used, and still having some of the benefits of DOHC.

"Yeah... it's the automotive embodiment of you, Kasumi, after all. You've set dozens of autocross records in it back in '89 that still hold to this day. It's an amazing machine when tweaked right. And I intend to show the whole world how great it is.", he said, his eyes gleaming. Akiyuki - when it came to the Starion, he was truly happy about it, no matter what it was.

"Yeah, they did call me the Goddess of Starion, that was the truth." She let off a bit of a sigh, her mind feeling nostalgic. "Oh, how much fun I had behind the wheel then, able to work the clutch and shifter the way I did. It was second nature. It still is, if I could get my legs back somehow. I'll bet I could climb right in and show off a holeshot launch."

"I'm sure you could, too...", he replied, letting off a sign of agreement. "You, Kas-chan... you can do anything, and everything. I always looked up to you that way."

-

"By the way", Karie asked Kealan, laying on top of him in a naked and exposed form, exhausted from... activities... and still panting a little, "That kid Akyuki Suzaki... he doesn't know much about the truth of the city of Tokyo, does he? Its past... it's present, and its possbible future."

"Hmm?" What do you mean?" Kealan was just as undressed as Karie was, despite the fact they were both rested on the hood of Kealan's 2000GT - amazing how it hold up to about 325 pounds - and in a garage, of all places. He still couldn't help but tease her a little, although in this state he did feel amped enough to get back to work.

"I mean he's only used to normal people. You saw the reaction to us when he saw our ears. He was staring at mine more than anything else, probably wondering to himself if you acquired them from me." Karie got up, slowly picking up her garmets and sliding them on - amused by the fact Kealan usually enjoyed her reverse strip-show of this nature - as he also followed suit.

"Yeah, I did... but, I suppose, he'll find out sooner than later the truth that lies in this city. BEsides... with Dorothy Bricklin and Misato Katsuragi long dead, and NERV long disbanded, what's there to worry about? The City of Tokyo is safe. The Third Impact was prevented. Life goes on, both in me and in you, despite the pains that haunt our past. But the present, is so much more vivid, colorful, and cheery."

"Yeah, I guess you're right...", Karie went on, now up to the point of sliding her mechanic's gloves on, along with Kealan fitting his, and also throwing on his trucker-style hat, blank with no text but old, dirty, and greasy."Although it's funny the way me and you sit here working on cars the old fashioned way instead of taking the easy method, and the fact we both get a kick out of turning wrenches instead of just putting our minds to work."

-

Akiyuki's eyes traveled to the window of the Burger King, him then blinking as he could've swore he saw a blue-haired woman with angelic wings looking at the two with curiosity. But then, she just... _disappeared_! Literally, gone from plain sight into thin air.

"!? ...Who the _hell_ was that?", Akiyuki though aloud to himself, a fry dropping from his mouth back onto the tray.

"Who, Aki-kun? Or rather, where?", Kasumi replied, suprised to see Akiyuki so suddenly startled.

"Behind you... in the window. There was a girl there, I saw her in the corner of her eye, but then, as I actually looked at her, she freaked out and..."

Kasumi canted her head to the side just a small bit, watching Akiyuki's lips tremble a little... seeing he wanted to say something, but couldn't believe what he was about to say.

"And what, Aki-kun? Just... disappeared?" Kasumi was holding her breath. It was a silly concept, but she believed every word Akiyuki ever said in his life to her, because they never kidded each other or talked sarcastically.

"Yeah... Wait! Hey, You!" Aki jumped up from the table as he saw her appear again, this time turning around and running off. The brown-haired man behind the counter, eyes narrowed, sighed, putting a palm to his forehead as the slight chaos began to unfold.

"There she goes again...", he mumbled to himself. "Dammit, Espirit, can't you keep your curious eyes out of other people's sight? You're bound to land someone in the asylum!"

Kasumi turned around as Akiyuki followed the girl out of the door, watching as he bolted through the glass door, running across the pavement. A car honked, damn near hittign Akiyuki as he crossed over the drive thru lane, the driver speeding on, fortunately. Because whatever he or she was about to see next, as Suzaki stumbled across the pavement, tripped, fell, and slammed his head on the bumper of a black sports car, would have disturbed them.

_"Itai!_", two voices said in unison. Akiyuki, and... some girl, possibly a 15 year older, with a very cute accent and a bit of a high pitch.

"Are you alright!?", the girl said in a panic, her bright sky-blue eyes looking worriedly at Akiyuki - apparently unaware she still wasn't completely 'seperate' from the car like this. Kasumi also was there by now, still on the sidewalk, standing on her own two... well, hands... her right eye twitching slightly... you'd think she was witnessing a ghost care for her younger brother. And in that retrospect, she wasn't too far off.

Akiyuki gasped as he stared up at the being. From the head to the waist, seemed to be the appearance of someone almost... supernatural looking. Her blue hair and eyes posessed a heavenly, innocent sheen to them, and she resembled in dress, an old-world countrywoman. But at the waist? The flesh seemed to merge with the deep blue metallic of the car's hood, the only thing that distrubed that wonderfl sheen being a green, white, and yellow Lotus emblem. Akiyuki finally was able to get a word out just after the figure shreiked, disappearing again... into the Lotus? Him and Kasumi said essentially the same thing at the same time.

"It's a girl!!!"  
"She's a car!!!"

"Well, you blew that one, Espirit-chan. Might as well introduce yourself to these fine two citizens and hope they don't end up ultimately being in a straight-jacket." The frown-haired, blue-eyed boy of not much more height than Akiyuki, and bearing an almost hauntingly similar build and hair-style, stood next to Kasumi, eyes locked onto the wedge-looking car, him seeming utterly and completely unamused. Kasumi boldly inched torwards the car as Akiyuki stood there in a state of true awe.

"Uhm...", a voice seemed to mutter, from inside the car... just as the woman - looking much the same now, a young lady with small wings emerging from her back and short, bright blue hair and eyes, but now in a much more modern attire... seemed to walk straight out from the door of the Espirit... but this time, she was definately complete. She appeared to be sweating... as the surface of the hood of the car seemed to moisten a bit... and her cheeks were blushed rosy red, the girl looking unbelievably shy.

"Uhm... good day. My name is Espirit-chan, part girl, part Lotus Esprit... pleasure to... meet... you...?"

If there was any time to declare a scenario as 'awkward', now was the time for Akiyuki and Kasumi alike, who stared at the cargirl figure, or figures, in a completely dazed state.

-

In the town of Akagi, Keisuke was with Fuhimiro, workiing on his FD. The engine was getting its routine breakdown/inspection, most of the external parts being looked over, some replaced, including the turbochargers, which were to be rebuilt, and the intercooler, which was going to be changed for a larger one. The body was also being tested, the alignment checked... everything about the car was being looked over.

"I noticed the fuel mileage has dropped considerably... what gives?", he asked Fuhimiro, with a bit of an unamused look on his face. Fuhimiro looked down into the engine compartment, his eyes locked on a small plug connected to the exhaust panel. "Well", he said, reaching in and grabbing a wrench to unfasten the device, "Your O2 sensor could be fizzling out as well. It's been subjected to high temperatures up to now and I don't believe it's been replaced." Fuhimiro removed the O2 sensor, which was all black, choked out with carbon build-up. "Yep", he said, showing the part to Keisuke, who raised an eyebrow in that _go figure_ kind of way, "The O2 sensor is kaput. Time for a new one. It might also explain why you're running so rich."

Keisuke and his brother's mechanic were both distracted, though, as they saw an unfamiliar white car pull in with a very familiar driver behind the wheel. And boy, it _sure was_ new. New to the point the passenger's seat was still semi-wrapped in plastic, and there were still bits of white plastic wrap partially covering the body. It was new, new, and, oh yeah, new. Its engine idled as smoothly, quietly, and gracefully as a Rolex wrist-watch as the driver pulled up.

For the most part, this car wasn't exactly a model of sensuality. It wasn't the automotive erotica of, say, an Aston Martin DB7. But that didn't matter; it was definately well-heeled on its tires, carrying a bit of a poised stance. Yes, maybe not erotic, but definately pretty agressive in nature. The curvature of its body panels suggested it was eager, maybe even slightly cocky. Its engine seemed to have more potential lurking than its idle state might have suggested. And the car definately wasn't that spacious... but all in all, it was probably a wonderful compliment to its older bretheren, despite the fact its headlights weren't equipped with retractors.

"A….Aniki? That's... what happened to your FC!?" Keisuke started forward, eyes wide as he stared at him perplexedly. Ryousuke chuckled, as if expecting the reaction, arms crossed as Fuhimiro gently placed down the worn O2 sensor, standing up to face Ryousuke. "Ryousuke... you're officially retired, then? Is this really the end of your racing days? I mean - that's a great car you have, but _compared to your FC_!?"

Ryousuke took off his pair of half-rimmed shades, folding them and using an arm to hang them in the collar of his shirt, in a small state of disbelief. "Don't be so naive, the both of you", he said, in a rather put-down low tone. "This car fufills every need a street racer could possess. Light-weightedness, a confident suspension setup, a natural balanced weight bias, and a responsive engine. This car could defeat Fujiwara's hachi-roku before the engine change quite easily with an advanced multilink setup. Appearance isn't everything... it even has a six-speed transmission, with very close ratios. You're always in the power band."

"Yes, but... still...", Keisuke replied, finding it harder and harder to believe just what he was staring at.

Ryousuke set his head down, fishing through his pocket until he found the pack of cigarettes, then sliding one out, still looking at the pavement. "If I must be behind the wheel as a competing driver, then I've already got a car leaps and bounds ahead of the FC sitting right here in the garage. Neither of you should ignore the fact." Cigarette lit and placed between his lips, his eyes almost flashed with a small cunning brilliance as he looked Keisuke and Fuhimiro dead in the eye, certain of every word he spoke. "After all... I paid for it, didn't I?"

"Hai...", Keisuke slowly replied to Ryousuke, swallowing his pride and the truth that was before him; being the White Comet of Akagi was officially retired. "You can drive the FD whenever you please."

"Good. I'm glad you understand. I picked a car that was both practical and reliable, efficient to drive, but yet sacrificed nothing in the name of balance and performance, or light weightedness. When I go to Tokyo University, I'll be very glad I purchased this car. It's not a car to under-estimate."

"I'll agree to that...", Fuhimiro said, looking a lot less glum then before, as if having realised something very important. "There's no doubt about it. Even if the engine size and weight just went up, the Roadster RS is still a pure sports car and driver's car."


	14. Chapter X01: Arrival in Japan

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

THIS CHAPTER IS A SIDE STORY AND IS NOT (AT LEAST THIS CHAPTER) RELATED TO THE MAIN STORY.

**Chapter X-01** - Arrival in Japan

So this was the not-so-big country that everybody in this living world is making such a stink about, eh? Japan. Japan is... interesting, from what I can tell of this first impression of mine. The people act quite differently. They're more curteous. And boy, is it me or is everyone in these airports always in a big rush?

I grabbed my luggage from the conveyer, double checking all my bags to make sure I had my documentation, my clothes, oh, and of course, my money, and the title to that... what is it again? Well, hey, it's worth a look, just to be safe. God make sure it isn't a Kei car, I thought to myself as I glanced over the sheet again, blinking repeatedly and speaking to nobody in particular.

"Ah! This is..."

Supra. Nice. Very fucking nice. That's an automatic plus in my boo- ...christ. Oh, god, a Supra 2.0, and automatic? I've heard bad rumors about that smaller engine, though I don't know much about it, but still, let alone the fact this piece of crap probably has zero aftermarket. But hey, for ten thousand yen, can I really complain? It says rod knock here... Lord help me. Still. It's a Supra. And Supras have big, honkerin' engine bays that you could easily shove something like a, uh-

Wait. They _do_ sell Corvettes here in Japan, right? Well, whatever, that isn't important at the moment. What is is getting a taxi and getting my ass to this car whose engine I'll have to rebuild or change the moment I acquire it. 2.0 automatic. Dear lord. 2.0 liters can _not_ be sufficient to haul thirty-five hundred pounds of car. It just can't. Especially when you equate the extra drivetrain loss.

Oh, hey, there's a cab! I waved the driver down and he pulled to a near-screeching halt. The car I've never seen in my life before... and a quick glance around these bustling streets before I got in and spat off my destination verified that I'd have a lot of catching up to do on my Japanese Car 101. It's wonderfully ironic, though, that I get a chance to drive a GT500 Supra and a street-model Supra at once. Even if one's a third gen and one's a fourth. But hey, who gives a fk about jellybeans, anyways? The 80's is where it's at. But racing is racing, and so, racing only uses modern cars.

The streets here are pretty narrow, and this whole driving-on-the-left-side-of-the-road concept is pretty iffy if you'd ask me. I mean, come on, are most Japanese people left-hand dexterous or something? That shift knob's gotta feel wierd on the other side. Hell, driving on that side's gotta feel wierd. But that didn't matter too much; I didn't have much street racing in mind, anyways. I'm here to win a _real_ championship. 

"Ah, right here, sir!" My Japanese knowledge was very limited, but I did what I could do, and he was kind enough to filter the Japanese in through my fairly heavy Southern drawl, fortunately. As I pulled the bags from the taxi's trunk, I gazed at that sky-blue Supra that was mine, here in Japan as my first car. 

Just like the description said. '87 2.0 GT Twin Turbo. And of course, my small apartment here out in the boonies. turning around, I paid my fare... a charge that I dare not speaketh of with the exception that the fair did make me cringe... and then proceeded to walk into the house, using the key that - just as the land-lord said - was tucked under the Supra's left-front tire. Actually, that's a pretty smart idea. Sure kicks the shit out of the klee-sheik (clicheic) doomat.

Opening the door, I at once was also surprised and then was relieved. Turns out I have a roommate here, and that probably explains the low rent. But hey, she's a girl, and she's got purple hair an irresistable green eyes... and a rather macho all-black get-up, including a red tie, that made me wonder if that was actually crossdressing. "Yo!", she waved, more focused on the soup than me. And that, coupled with my current energy level, made me almost fall over laughing.

The girl was ravaging on a ramen bowl, apparently knowing my face the second she saw it. Well, I've gotta give props to the owner of this place. He gave everyone the four-one-one so I can just kick back and settle down, and recover from the inevitable jet lag. I looked over the mop-topped girl again, with her fashionably short-yet-long hairdo that reminded me of some of those new punk-ish trend girls back in the States, but she seemed totally down-to-earth.

"Yo. Good evening, and all that stuff." Oh, did I mention that we were speking English? _Schwang._

"Help yourself", she mumbled, mouth full - often, I've gotten scolded for bad table manners, which kind of annoyed me, so do you know how refreshing and good feeling it is to meet a _woman_ who slurps down her soup like a pig? - while pointing to my unfilled bowl. "Juss micwowave it an incoherent." I chuckled again, before locking the door behind me. I could see already she was going to be a cool girl to hang with.

So this is what Japan is? To be perfectly honest, it doesn't sound all that bad.


	15. Chapter X02: Old Love

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

THIS CHAPTER IS A SIDE STORY AND IS NOT RELATED TO THE MAIN STORY.

**Chapter X-02**: Old Love

It's another one of those days where I just can't clear my memories of him out of my mind. Trhoughout all the morning classes, I've more often than not found myself staring off into the distance or not paying attention to my lesson. Fortunately, my grades aren't suffering to the point this could get me kicked out of Tokyo U, but... I can't deny that I miss him.

"Oh... ah, hey, Natsuki-chan!", a voice called, cheerily, from behind me. It was Saori, another freshlady here like me. She is quite engrossed into the anime trend that seems to be buzzing about the school, always raving on about the newest series... usually those of the bishojot-type, including magical girls and such. Although she has to wear particularly thick-rimmed Coke-bottle glasses and is a little on the lazy side, she's still a cool friend of mine, and helps keep my stress level down at critical times... such as today, as a matter of fact.

"Hi Saori-chan! Uh, aaah! Wha, WHOA! Uso! You got HER autograph!?" It was the autograph of the lead female singer in the popular pop band, Move. Known to her fans as Yuri. "I can't believe you got Yuri's autograph!"

Her loyalty was incredible. She missed out on the Tokyo Bay Music Festival for that autograph alone, since Move wasn't playing.

"Hai, hai, Natsuki! It was too cool to meet Yuri. She looks better in real life than she does in her videos. It's amazing!" Saori giggled with the utmost delight, even posing a little... she had every reason to. The next thing I know, the bell was ringing, and we were going our seperate ways.

The next class was chem, something I really didn't want to be in but it was better than computer tech, which completely loses me. And today's assignment was a written quiz. Not in any way, shape, or form, close to fun. It was just sheer torture on me as I struggled to put pencil to paper, digging into my fadey memory - remember how I said how it isn't fun? Well, that means it's boring... which means I don't pay much attention, and that makes me want to cry - and writing up whatever I could. After an eternity and fourty-five years (actually an hour and 15 minutes), I had about 95 of it done but the test was over.

Crap. Came up short again, though this time, I was very close! But still, written assignments just killed me. Regardless, I handed the test to the teacher before leaving class again, prancing along the hallways of Tokyo U. Some of the weight of thinking of him again was off my shoulders, because the vigorous trying-not-to-get-an-F-in-Chem thought process ruled out any other thought - including him.

"Oi, Mogi-chan, gonna just walk past me?" The voice was light and cheery, and of course I knew he was joking. The laugh he let loff further verified that. "Or were you daydreaming again, Natsuki-san?"

Meet Shiro Fukuyama. He's one of my few guy friends at Tokyo U. And while he does have a woman, he knows where to draw the lines, and shows no romantic interest in me, which is a relief... not just to me, but to his girlfriend, as well. The whole idea of being polygomous was definately erased from my brain the day he said that line to me. 'Have fun with your boyfriend in the Benz'. Even today, I still have nightmares of that dreadful day that changed my life.

"Eh-heh, hai, Shiro-san! gomen!" Shiro laughed a bit, patting my shoulder. "No need to apologize", he said, "The best apology is not doing it again, don't forget. But all joking aside... are you alright, Natsuki? I saw you earlier today and you seemed really down, what happened?"

I couldn't contain a small blush. Even though he _was_ just a friend, he was unnaturally caring of me. "Nn, nothing really, I was just thinking of my ex again..."

A slightly cold voice cut between us, causing my mood to quickly snap from cheery to truly offended.

"So, is the drama over, or what, Shiro? She's okay. Now let's move on." Before I could even come out of the slight funk the crudeness of that threw me into, Shiro did it for me. "HIROKI! That's awful rude! Natsuki's a good friend of mine! How dare you!" The boy sure did look like a jerk, although not the usual cocky type, more of the not-give-a-damn type.

Slightly dull eyes and an emotionless stare at Shiro were different from the tank-top shirt he was wearing and the spikey black hair, and shorts, which suggested a rowdy, smartassed attitude, and soemone who picks fights for no good reason. But no, he was just... very bored. And that cause my second, speechless reaction.

"...Sorry." He looked me in the eye, lightly hinting sincerity in his tone of voice, before glancing back to Shiro. "But honestly, we're going to miss a street race tonight, Shiro. If you'd rather hang out with your female friend, I'll blow the coup on my own. Doesn't mean a thing to me."

Shiro sighed a little, shaking his head before eyeing me as if to say, 'don't let it get to you, he's always like this', before looking back at Hiroki, glaring a little. "Hey, give us a minute, man! Break-ups are never easy!"

"I wouldn't know.", he nonchalantly replied. His attitude wasn't as bad as some of the people, but it did grind me to the bone a little just for the fact he was brutally honest, and cut-throat. Still. I didn't want to be as low as him.

"I... I'm sorry for bringing up Fujiwara, Hiroki", I said, barly over my breath. And then, he reacted in a way that I wasn't expecting. He cocked an eyebrow, showing just slight interest. "Fujiwara? ...sounds like a pizza delivery boy." Something inside told me to shrug it off, but I couldn't. "Well, actually, he does deliver tofu..."

I glanced again at Shiro, and he gave me a look that told me to shut up, and now. But I couldn't. I walked into this, and this Hiroki guy was all over it. "Tofu? He probably drives a dorky little Civic or a newer car like a City and it's banged up here in Tokyo, is that right...?"

"Well", I said, refusing to listen to my better sense, "Actually, he is all the way in Gunma, in the town of Akina, and his cas is a Trueno. But he calls it a 'hachi-roku', I believe."

My fists clenched as I saw him close his eyes and laugh lightly, biting his lip, befor ehis eyes locked onto Shiro, than me. "Shrio, you and your gal friend are the best friends I've ever met. I know exactly who you two are talking about." His sly, cunning grin seemed to spell nothing but trouble, and all I could do was stare back, with watery, enraged eyes. What was he going to do to my Takumi!? And god, I'm such a-

"Now that I know the name and location of at least one Project.D ace, I can see the driver personally. I'm going to call Michelle... It'll be an easy uphill/downhill sweep with our cars." ..._wait_, wait wait wait wait **wait!** He's interested in racing Takumi. And Project D? Is that... is that the team he was talking about joining? I breathed a slight sigh of relief. Okay, so he didn't have a grudge against my boyfriend... it was just this racing thing. But still, it made me feel uneasy. Just how big was Takumi, now? I want to see Takumi so bad. See him one more time.

"Well, I'll be on my way then", he said, waving before throwing his knacksack over one shoulder and walking off, Shiro letting out a small, slightly angry, groan.

"God damn it, Hiroki... you spend two weeks here trying to earn your Master's, and already you're hunting down street racers!?"

I decided I would act like I didn't hear it, for Shiro's sake, and looked to him. "Well, anyways, I'll be off! Don't worry, Shiro-san... he doesn't bother me that much!" I did a pretty decent job faking a smile before strolling off back to my dorm... but the moment I closed the door, and locked it, I slid down against the door to the floor, staring ahead at a small Trueno plushie that I made for myself to remind me of Takumi.

'Takumi-kun...', I thought to myself... 'Just what have you been doing?'


	16. Chapter 14: Always in Style

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 14: Always in Style**

"I think it's a great idea!" Espirit, her form standing just a few feet from her car, was showing true enthusiasm in the idea that Kira had spawned. Kira smirked slightly, looking to Kazumi. It was indeed a plan to him, having Kazumi be the eyes and ears of Espirit, and eltting Espirit do the footwork for Kazumi.

"I mean, Kazumi", Espirit said with a cutely cheery tone, "I am slightly able to read thoughts... if you think hard about the next corner, I can more likely than not translate it to what would be your footwork. I think it would be fun for the both of us, Kazumi-san!" Espirit could hardly stand still at the thought. In the past year, nobody but Kira has driven her, and she liked it that way. But this was... different... because, it would be half her work and half the driver's.

"Hmm..." Kazumi paused for a moment to decide whether or not it was really worth this. Wwll, it was a very long time since she'd ever truly laid pedal to the metal, or felt a car doing anything more than moving her from point A to point B. Another side of her wondered just how much faith could be put into a literally living car.

"Well, Espirit, I suppose it would be worth a try or two. You don't seem to be the type of person who would pull something on me... part-car or not." She revealed a slight smile as she held herself up on her two hands. But, in a half an instant, she found that there was no need to support herself. With an unnaturally fluid grace, Espirit swooped down to be eye-to-eye with Kazumi, wrapping her angelic arms around the ex race driver's body, and gently hoist her into the driver's seat, almost as if she was -designed- to move this way.

Akiyuki was slightly uncertain to all of this. On one hand, it seemed like everybody was for this experience.. but something inside him didn't want to see his sister in danger... thoughts of that nightmare echoed in his head, haunting him. But if it was really what his older sister wanted, who was he to argue?

Espirit's 2.0L turbocharged inline-four fluttered to life, giving off a warm little burble of a sound, an audial deliverance that no other engine could deliver... it was the exhaust system that she and Kira both designed together. Perhaps not the best for horsepower, but at low revs, the Espirit just sounded so _cute!_ She helped Kazumi buckle herself in and get comfortable with the car, and then slowly rolled forward, Kazumi grasping the warm, flesh-like feel of the Lotus' steering wheel, and gently turning Espirit out of the BK's parking lot, getting a feel for the unnaturally sharp - yet gentle - response.

-

"If you were to ask me, I'd say it was a downright shock that you're actually throwing in the towel like this." The man speaking was a rather stunned, but still calm and content-sounding Kyoichi Sudou, leaning forward at the table of a resturant that has started to develop a reputation as a popular hang-out for the street racing higher-ups... namely including Kyoichi Sudou and the man opposite to him, Akagi's acclaimed White Comet, Ryousuke Takahashi himself. Ryousuke, wearing a decidedly formal light grey buisness suit with a black and dark blue striped tie and dark-tinted half-rim sunglasses, and well-polished leather shoes. He also sported a dark-grey undercoat that barely showed through his unbuttoned collar. He looked dressed for an occasion, but really, he was just out looking good.

"Is it that suprising, Sudou?" Ryousuke lifted his tea glass from the table, sipping a little before setting it down, and choking down a good chuckle. "I don't see what the whole shock is about this me retiring thing. It was supposed to be expected, don't you think?" Kyoichi held his tongue for a moment as his eyes traveled from Ryousuke outside to the far corner of the parking lot, eyeing the hardtop-equipped Roadster RS, which already had its lip and wheels changed, and splitters added to the somewhat subtle black lip. "If you want me to be honest", Kyoichi replied, with a bit of a harsh laugh, "You still haven't fully given up on racing. Otherwise, that Roadster sitting outside would have only ha hardtop on it."

Ryousuke narrowed his eyes, this time actually snickering a little bit, Kyoichi having caught him red-handed. Yes, he still beared an interest in driving fast. In fact, if it weren't for medical school and Tokyo U on the horizon, he would still probably be maintaining his Infini FC. But that's not his goal in life. Of course, Ryousuke didn't need to reveal any of this, nor let Kyoichi in on why he was tuning his Roadster RS. He merely replied to Sudou in a light, cheery-ish tone of voice. "Good eye."

"So what's next on the horizon?", Kyoichi replies, deciding now was the best time to switch topics and gears. However, he was caught off-guard when Ryousuke replied with a bit of a grin. "Neo-Tokyo. And Fujiwara will be driving my FC."

"Tokyo!? And what buisness does Fujiwara have driving your FC!?" Now that _did_ floor Kyoichi. Just as he before the fact could never see Ryousuke racing in anything but a white FC, he couldn't fathom the idea of Takumi Fujiwara driving anything without a Fujiwara Tofu Shop logo.

"Don't be silly. The AE86's engine is great for touge. But our next two opponents are going to be an issue that can only be resolved with up to, or even perhaps more than, five-hundred horsepower."

"..."

"Don't be silly, Ryousuke", Kyoichi replied, a single eye twitching. "Five-hundred plus horsepower is-"

"...ideal for long stretches of highway and blasting through city traffic."

For a strong minute or two, maybe even three, Ryousuke stood there, taking the time to finish the last of his meal as the shock dulled from the famed Emperor leader and he could gather his senses. This was a new level that Project D was going to enter, and it for sure wasn't going to be an easy match. High speed. Drafting. Traffic.

All areas that neither of D's aces had attempted to challenge.

"So it's a Wangan and City Sprint all in once. When will it be taking place?", Sudou asked, sounding genuinely interested... although worried sick for the lives of the Project D drivers. Surely this wasn't beyond their skill, but... He knew the capabilities of Project EVO. It would be the clash of two well-known titans... and who were Project D going to race, anyway? Would they race in a two-car battle and battle twice, of a four-car race? This opened up so many questions in the mind of the Evo III specialist, and few of them could be answered.

"In about two weeks", Ryousuke said calmly. "The weather is beginning to cool. We only have a month and a half left to finish this project. We spent most of September preparing for this battle, well, me and the team that is. But the drivers... they do not know about Neo-Tokyo yet."

-

"Chusu!" Mako cheerily called out, despite that being quite a word to use given her usual vocabulary. She smiled and waved to Iketani as he rolled in with his tired old S13 Silvia, the rear seats and trunk filled with an assortment of tools that were neatly wrapped in old blankets, for the sake of the Silvia's still quite great-condition interior. And to make sure none of the greasy smell gets stuck in the seats, of course. "G'evening, Mako-chan!", Iketani called from his rolled-down driver's window. "I have the parts ready, and a catalogue for us to browse!" He pulled the car to a stop, setting the parking brake and rolling up the window before turning the engine off, and then climbing out, happy to 'truly' see Mako for the first time in a long time.

"Ah, sou desu? That's great, Iketani!" Bravely, she ran right to him, pulling him - by suprise - into a deep hug. "I've really missed you, Iketani. That encounter at the gas station wasn't half of how I felt." Iketani studdered and choked, not expecting this sudden torrent of what could only be summed up as the aftermath of seperation anxiety. But Iketani's mind process was a little too simple for that. All he could think up was, _Mako-chan missed me!?_

Well. That was the truth. Pretty or ugly as it seemed, for the past three months, Mako couldn't help but to find herself thinking about Iketani, more and more often. Something just... wasn't right about the whole break-up. Mako knew it in her mind and her heart that it wasn't really like Iketani to do such a thing... so why did he? Why did Iketani so rudely leave her waiting so many hours there at the parking lot beside the road, leaving her to question herself as a woman? No, that wasn't Iketani. No way, no how. Something had to _stop_ him. But, was it a traffic jam? No... something like that seemed pretty mild, given the length of time she waited...

Did his S13 break down? Could that be the cause? She never thought about it until maybe July, but somehow... no... because, wouldn't he call if he broke down? Wouldn't he leave a message for when she got home? But Iketani never called or anything. He simply seemingly fell off the face of the planet. But loe and behold, for the moment she arrived at the Esso station, there he was right there, though he did seem to mature just slightly. No, something had to happen that Mako night after night continually replayed in her head, tweaking various scenarios in her inner workings. All in all, by the time all the work was done, she hit one single, solitary conclusion.

Iketani didn't think he was worthy of her. That _had_ to be it!

There was just no other way for the life of Satou that he wouldn't show. She remembered, quite vividly, their first encounter on the street, with Sayuki still back in the passenger's seat. She remembered seeing the tire tracks caused by the wrong move or input... she couldn't even remember exactly what. But what she remembered, clear as daylight, was the look on Iketani's face when they met eye to eye. He was a complete beginner, and a nobody compared to her ranks in his mind. That had to be the reason!

And when that reality struck her... she began to feel guilty. She understood everything, why he didn't show, why there wasn't a single phone call during or after that night, why he never bothered to do anything else with her as a friend or otherwise. He just didn't feel worthy... and that was what really sunk in. She just couldn't take it any more. On a beautiful, sunny morning, she gathered her nerve and popped open the door of her Sil-Eighty, turning the ignition and firing the mighty ole' CA18, navigating that car straight into Akina... and leading to the endless embrace that she held Iketani in now.

"Iketani-kun... I missed you... I really, honestly missed you..." All of the mixed emotions that Mako'd been experiencing, from the first stab of betrayal that she initially felt when Iketani didn't show and she took off in a burnout of fury to the continual pounding of guilt that drove her almost insane, and everything inbetween, gathered at once, rushing from her heart. It took more than just Kouichirou by suprise. Mako wasn't expecting this to hit her, either. Holding tightly onto the stunned Iketani, tears of more emotions than she could count at the moment streamed from her eyes as she buried her face in Iketani's shoulder, crying perhaps worse than Itsuki did when he discovered his "Eight-Six" wasn't exactly an eight-six. But she wasn't embarassed, or anything. This, in such an odd way, was something she felt comfortable with. Crying. But more importantly, crying in Iketani's warm embrace.

"It's alright...", the stunned Speed Star eventually said, fighting hard to control his own emotion as it gathered at his throat and threatened to burst out at any split-second. "I missed you too... Mako-chan." Indeed, Iketani also missed his love... in the worst way.

-

This was the habit of one Bunta Fujiwara. As he barreled down the Akina mountain pass at a rather wreckless speed, he lit a cigarette mid-drift. Even in the Impreza, he could do it. Even on this rather wide hairpin of Akina's, where the steering wheel was supposed to straighten itself out, or the car understeer, or something... it carried through in such a wonderfully subtle drift. Enter the Bunta Fujiwara School of Boredom Killing When You've Run Out of Ways to Drive Fast and You're the Greatest Driver the Course has Ever Seen.

However, coming up to the first of the Five Hairpins, Bunta faintly caught a set of taillights disappearing around a corner. He was driving all-out, but was a little more than lightly stunned to discover he wasn't gaining at a rediculous rate of speed. After all - the taillight placement and width of the car he caught a glimpse of - along with the dark, reflective sheetmetal color, and two bright stripes, that his headlights flickered off of looked -nothing- like an AE86.

After Hairpin #2, one could easily go far enough to even say, not anything like a Japanese market car, either! Or, even, nothing from this era, as a matter of fact! The car was old, yes, quite old. As he continued reeling it in he struggled to identify the car. "Hmm...", the old man grumbled. "Guy ain't a bad driver at all, though it looks like he doesn't know the course well, he's adapting to the lines mid-corner. That's impressive."

The driver of the car was hard to see, and the car itself seemed quite unorthodox as the lights from the GC8V were mirrored back to Bunta's eyes from the two chrome vertical strips of bumper that were set slightly inward from the taillights. Bunta could also make out chrome surrounding the rear window, and also a chrome grate on the very slopy rear trunk... "Waitasec... engine cooling?" Yes, that had to be it! That wasn't a trunk; the engine sat in the far rear! Bunta was pretty interested in this car... not so much the fact it was a classic, but by the -speed- and -acceleration- it carried.

Accompanied by a turbo whoosh, the car squatted, wagged its tail a little, and kicked dust and pulled from the Impreza on corner exit. It probably had 300 or more horsepower, and the driver seemed pretty apt at handling the car, despite the unfamiliarity of the course. Upon the third hairpin, Bunta was able to minimize the distance between the two cars to a car length, thanks to knowing his secret little gutter cornering trick. But despite carrying that amazing speed through the gutter, right before the braking point of the Fourth Hairpin, the car ahead again equalized and then suprassed the speed difference between itself and the WRX.

On the Fifth and Final Hairpin, as the car ahead went wide, Bunta tucked in, optimizing a line for an inside overtake, and surpassing the lead car with a bit of ease. Bunta tried getting an eye at the driver, but that car's dashboard gauges were so dimly lit - if lit at all - that he couldn't even make out the shadow of the driver in the dim cockpit. Furthermore, it was a bit of a suprise for him to find the car was still pressing hard even though he passed. But, when he traveled down the short-straight, cruised right on through the corner, and pulled away at the next - using the WRX for all it was worth - he found the other driver eased the pace.

"Hmm... not bad." Bunta snuffed out the cigarette in the car's ashtray as he continued down to the end of the Akina downhill course, quite suprised that anyone with skill - let alone anyone driving such an old, European-market car - was traveling up and down that very pass. "He clearly needs practice here, he was treating the course cautiously like a new course, and wasn't daring to follow an AWD line, which was a smart move. If he challenges Takumi at his home course..." Bunta said, for a moment's pause as he verified the certainty of his own thoughts, being narrative only to himself and his Impreza...

"...He'll lose."

The driver of that very old and unusually shaped, elegant, beautiful car, stepped out after pulling to a halt. The driver laugh, closing the car's door with a bit of a sarcastic edge to the laugh, and walked to the front of the car, taking a moment to sit on the hood, the engine lopily idling, sounding identical almost to the WRX's idle, save for a bit more of a deep bellow and track-ready growl.

The driver removed the helmet that was also used during the downhill descent, always being cautious and aware of one's life. With a smirk, the driver listened to the sound of the WRX as it finished its run, the engine note still barely echoing in the mid-evening air, on a beautiful full moon evening.

"So that's the downhill ace...?", the driver asked to nobody in particular. With a scoff, the driver shook head and then leaned back on the hood of the car, laughing and staring up at the sky... for the first in a long time, feeling genuinely interested in the upcoming battle. "Using an AWD on the downhill is practically cheating. I'm quite amused. But I think challenging the FD on a downhill will produce a much more interesting result. Especially at such a fun place like here. After all..."

The driver chuckled again, sitting up and re-fitting the full face helmet, sporting a tinted - despite driving in the night - visor and full face coverage, wonderfully hiding their identity, along with some crash protection should things go awry.

"Didn't you get a lot of practice here trying to defeat your own teammate, Keisuke Takahshi?"


	17. Chapter 15: Akagi's Nightmare

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

THIS CHAPTER TIES THE 2 SIDE STORY CHAPTERS BACK TO THE MAIN PLOT

**Chapter 15: Akagi's Nightmare**

_Ten Days Later..._

The phone at the Fujiwara Tofu shop rang yet again, for the 5th time this early afternoon, an anxious caller on the other end. The caller was Akiyuki Suzaki again, holding the earpiece up with his shoulder, sighing as he tapped his finger on the desk he was sitting at. On the 7th or 8th ring, he considered just waiting another hour, but just in time someone picked up on the other end, sounding like he was in a rush.

"Uhm, hello, this is the Fujiwara Tofu Shop, who's calling, please?" The voice was, to Suzaki's relief, Fujiwara, the younger Fujiwara.

"Ah, Fujiwara-san! It's Akiyuki. How's things?" Takumi blinked, not expecting _this_ call on his agenda.

"Oh, uh, hi, I just got home from my job, Suzaki-san. Things have been okay. I'm still experimenting with a few things with the Trueno, but my faith in the car is slowly being restored to how it used to be. Aside from that, I'm still not sure exactly what to do. Ryousuke still hasn't said anything about if there's even going to be a Project D race beyond our encounter with Purple Shadow."

"Oh, is that so? I've been wondering, because I saw a pretty extreme-looking FC blasting down Akagi recently. I thought at first it was Ryousuke Takahashi's, but then I saw Ryousuke next to a Roadster RS at the hilltop after making a quick run."

"Eh? What were you doing at Akagi, anyways?"

"Merely seeing the home ground of the old Red Suns team. But I think something incredible is beginning to develop. New competition for Project D, perhaps?"

"I wouldn't know. I've been too busy working and doing tofu deliveries. For the time being, I'm working full-time."

"...I see. Takumi, there's somebody I'd like you to meet. One day in the future, you may be teammates with him."

"N... nani?"

"I myself was suprised at his driving ability. He reminds me of you in many ways."

"Ah... is that so? More than I remind you of yourself?"

"Yes, actually."

"Sounds interesting. But where would I meet him?"

"I'll pick you up in an hour if that's okay with you."

"That'll do."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later. Ja."

"Ja na!" -click-

-

Iketani stood under the hood of Mako's Sil-Eighty, attatching a metal hook to a mount on the engine specifically designed for this; pulling the engine. Originally, Iketani had zero plans on removing the engine, however, he decided maybe it was best for a complete rebuild. That as well, pulling the transmission out and keeping that in check, and replacing the clutch, as well, would be a cinch. It was a practical alternative to being hunched over the hood all day long, not to mention the fact that the days were getting shorter and sunlight would be a rare commodity by the time he got off from work.

Mako kept a close eye and did her part in removing the bolts that held the engine and transmission to the chasis of the car, and making sure every last wire was disconnected. It was, and the old CA18 was out in a very short period of time, without much trouble at all. Iketani and Mako together spent a lot of time making sure that everything was in order before the extraction, and it all came together, or, rather, out, flawlessly.

The engine's exterior looked suprisingly well-kept, despite the fact the car was approaching 18 years of age. Still, the Sil-Eighty never looked finer... until before her crash on Mt. Usui so long ago, maybe. That was back when Sayuki wasn't that into the racing scene just quite yet and Mako was still experimenting on her own. That was when she was simply known as "That 180SX girl". But today, it was a lot different. She was again on the road alone, but she had a reputation to upkeep, as she helped Sayuki conquer Usui in the other direction with her quirky, strange-behaving AW11.

And there she was. Looking more or less like a mess of hoses, covers, and disconnected wires than the actual engine that was extracted, the CA18 stood there in all of its aged glory, the writing on the valve cover nearly flawless. It was in much better condition than most engines that old on the outside, although it was more likely than not on her way out on the inside. The engine's compression was, after all, beginning to drop. All in all it was time for either a replacement or update... and replacement was definately not on Mako's options chart

"You know...", Iketani said, as he and Mako slowly pushed the hoisted engine into her small garage, "Change isn't always a bad thing. I know somebody who thought much the way you did about an engine change, although his engine damaged forced him to change engines." Mako glanced at Iketani with a bit of a curious stare. "Forced to change engines..." She held her breath, remembering the news from a year ago. "F-Fujiwara, you mean!?"

"Hai. Fujiwara blew his engine racing the Evo III on Akagi. His father replaced the engine, and at first... he didn't like it at all. But he grew to fall in love with it after racing an 86 Levin Turbo." Eyeing the CA18 as it was, She was aware that the engine was one that was beginning to fall behind the technology curve. It also beared the weight of being 200 cc smaller than its newer counterparts, and not bearing as large an aftermarket. Still... the one thing Mako disliked was being a follower, and Silvia owners left and right have started switching to the SR series engine.

"I understand that", Mako replied. "But I'm still iffy over the idea of an SR20 swap... I also believe, the appearance of that engine takes from the car's character." Iketani chuckled a little and nodded in repliance to Mako, understanding of where she was coming from. Although a few S13's came stock with SR20's, it is really more well known in the S14 culture... maily for the fact the engine recieved a few horsepower tweaks and the car got a pretty new face. "Well...", he started, in a bit of a reassuring voice...

"I'm sure we'll figure something out, Mako-chan."

-

Tokyo. Shinjuku, Tokyo, to be exact. This crowded district of the city is possibly the most populated district in Neo-Tokyo. It was home to all kinds of fashions, trends, and teenagers alike. It was a gathering center and also yet a center of transportation, thanks to the recently redesigned Shinjuku Station. And this is where one woman would step off of a train, taking her purse with her, and pacing her way through the crowd to the outside streets, eyeing up and down the sidewalk.

Nearby, a small hatchback car pulled to a halt just before the lady got off the train. The driver, looking bored, placed the shifter in neutral and pulled the handbrake, letting the car's rather noisy - but growly when provoked - engine idle, keeping the air conditioning on. It was an unusually hot September evening, the temperatures easily reaching into the 90's, despite the sun setting. The radio off, his eyes veered from face to face, trying to find the right person amidst the sea of people. It was such a strange and new environment to him, too, that he didn't know what to make of it.

Finally, as she neared the sidewalk, she saw the car... No, wait, that is his car, right? It looked different... the hood was black, and so were his headlights. And she couldn't see the person within from this distance. But still, her heart-rate increased. She felt a little heated, emotion already beginning to wrap its arms around her. She broke into a sprint, charging torwards the hatchback.

"Takumi! Takumi-kun, Takumi-kun!"

Seeing the driver slowly climb out and look at her with a bit of a confused expression on his face, she'd wrap her arms around him and practically pin him to the car in a tight hug, her emotions in the sky. "Takumi-kun! I've missed you. It's been so long, hans't it? 8 months? 9? Too many to count!"

"Mogi-chan... it's good to see you, too." Takumi chuckled a small bit as the hug broke, then blushed when Natsuki suprised him with a kiss on the lips. "Mou, Natsuki... that was sudden...", he said, rubbing his now red hot-feeling cheeks. Natsuki giggled in repliance, giving him a solid nod. "I couldn't help it, _Ta-ku-mi_", she want on, practically singing it. "How have you been, love? Enjoying your racing team, I hope. The news about it has made it all the way here to Tokyo, Takumi-kun. A friend of m- ... well, no. That's a lie. I found about it myself."

Takumi blinked for a second, cocking an eyebrow and tilting his head. "Found out about it yourself, Natsuki...?" Natsuki replied with the same vigorous nod that she just gave him, pinning him up against the door of the old Tofu Shop Trueno, not caring less if anyone were to watch the scene. "Hai, hai, Tak (Takumi)-_kun_! To be honest, I've been thinking about you for a while, and how you like cars... I didn't realise it at first, but I kinda like racing now. Your Trueno is FR, right?"

"I.. uhm... yes... yes, it is...", Takumi muttered, blushing again, and showing a face that appeared to be more embarassed than flattered. But he really was a little bit amazed. Before, Natsuki called his car just that, a car. Now she knew it not only by model name but she also knew its drivetrain layout. She wasn't exactly a Ryousuke Takahashi, but it was a step forward from the previous Mogi who knew nothing about cars.

"And the engine is a 4A-GE inline four... or was... but you changed the engine to a higher-revving one, didn't you? You had to install an aftermarket tachometer that went pretty high, if I remember correctly..." Whoa, whoa, _whoa!_ One step at a time there, baby! Takumi slowly ran her feedback through his head and then nodded. "Uhm, yes. The new engine revs very high. I like the new engine. It's faster than I expected..." Takumi then sighed a small bit, thinking of how the WRX was superior in every way, shape, and form... but luckily...

"Never mind all that, though, Tak (Takumi)-kun. We should go out on a date, like, now! I mean, it's not like either of us are seeing anyone else, right?" Takumi blinked. Mogi definately changed. She seemed even more energetic than before, somehow, but... being at Tokyo U, with all those boys... "You really didn't find someone else, Mogi?", he asked, looking Natsuki straight in the eye. And Natsuki replied with a honest statement, not braking her gaze on his. "No, I didn't... ever since I left for here, you've been on my mind. Not as frequently now as before, but..." Although her emotion seemed down for a second, she perked right up on the spot. "I thought about us so often, sometimes it interfered with my studying. I've... I've turned down a lot of what other girls would call 'hotties'."

Takumi blinked again before proceeding to scratch his head as he tried to figure this all out. Takumi... he had a future. Hopefully. The guys at Tokyo U... practically had it made. Takumi... had a car of his own and practically nothing else but a supportive mentor. Well, two of them, actually. One now less than what he used to be, though. The guys at Tokyo U... probably had rich parents and maybe even a house of their own. What in any girl's right mind would not derail them from their Johnny Racer ex-boyfriend and focus on someone with a brighter future? And he thought this aloud, too. "But why would you turn down so many college guys? I mean, they probab-"

Natsuki cut off Takumi with a smile mid-sentance and a hush sign. "Because then I could never be yours", she said, with a happy smile.

-

At the beginning of the Akagi Uphill, a white Roadster RS gunned the gas, although the horsepower the little thing had only was enough to chirp its rear tires as it accelerated through the course's first wide hairpin, then onward to the second, third, fourth, and fifth hairpins, which were all practically copies of one another. Ripping through the mountain scenery, the white two-door had the finesse, the grace, the speed that was on par with only other other white machine... and that hatchback used to wear a Red Suns sticker on its quarter panel.

Behind the wheel was a man who's driving desire proved to be the contrary to what he said, his sheer technique blistering, even on the uphill. It was none other than Ryousuke Takahashi himself... and Akagi's White Comet didn't seem to lose its touch. He went all the way into fourth gear on the uphill's corners, only braking lightly for a wide hairpin-ish corner that lead to a more complex series of corners that ended with a _real_ hairpin

"The more I drive you, the more you remind me of the FC... and with this latest modification, although it's a small one that only ups your horsepower to about a hundred and eighty, still adds to the feeling." From under the Roadster RS' hood, a small turbo spool that was primarily designed for response and not sheer power whirred away, the Roadster just seeming viscious, going up a grade or not.

"You've responded very well to the hardtop and suspension modifications, and you're also responding very well to the turbo, Roadster. You seem to be a car in love with mild modifications that slowly turn you into a more extreme machine. I don't deny it... Mazda modeled you well. You're an addictive driving machine. So like the FC yet so unlike it. The MX in MX-5 the European market stands for Piston Sports. You achieve Mazda's goal of sports car perfection." He beared a grin of excitement, enjoying the refreshing feeling of nirvana-like balance between engine, chasis, and suspension. Nothing seemed underdone or overdone. While it might not have been the fastest car... it was _perfection_.

Ryousuke's eyes then caught a glimpse of headlights as he charged up another straightaway, the chase car closing in, and fast. The gap was almost sealed by the gradual corner that lead to a very wide hairpin, and by that hairpin, the chase car was locked onto the NB8C's tail, Ryousuke blinking. A glance in his rearview mid-corner caused him to widen his eyes.

"Round headlights, and round markers!?" His eyes narrowed as he upped his driving rythm to 95... he was already making a hell of a blast uphill, but the presence of a unknown car caused his tension to rise.

"Let's see what kind of driving skill is behind the wheel of this car. It's got horsepower." More corners passed, the chase car not losing a spec of distance... only just a slight tad on the corners. They were on the course's last straightaway before the end straight, approaching an area known as the Butterfly Corners. Ryousuke blinked again as he heard the wail of the engine behind him. "ITB's...", he gasped lightly, changing his line to a full-on defensive attack.

"This guy isn't fucking around. He's serious. Whatever's powering that car is a piece of work."

Ryousuke would be taken by suprise as he held the inside line, drifting enough to _think_ that he had the corner guarded. However. While he mastered the geometry of the Roadster, he forgot something that was simple yet easy to forget when you haven't battled in a new car. _Its size_. The NB8C was a small little car, and although he didn't get the greatest glance of it... the car that was behind him was just as small... if not smaller. Not hesitating for a moment, it snuck on the outside and began creeping around Ryousuke's white Roadster.

"From the outside!? That's very brave", Ryousuke mumured. And now, the car had the inside line for the next corner... and as it slowly crawled around the outside of the hardtop speedster of Akagi's famed White Comet, it bared its sheetmetal skin to Ryousuke. A very, very odd skin, that was, that actually broke his concentration.

"What...", he said, eyes narrowing again as he was now put in the chase position, though that leading car was now already gaining on the poor, by-comparison underpowered (although in Ryousuke's eyes its acceleration about matched the Project D. 86, if not just a tad quicker) sportster of Akagi's regular Downhill Specialast. "What kind of a car is _that_?" He tossed that subject aside for the moment as he listened to its engine, the driver shifting. "Short gear spacing, and a shift point at 8500 RPM...a very competitive, but possibly not completely race tuned, inline-four."

He then focused on the sheet metal of the car, as it drifted through the complex series of corners, Ryousuke only closing the gap by 10 meters before the short straight. "I've never seen a roofline like that before in my life. What an old car it must be... and foreign, too." He chuckled, admitting he was stumped on the model. "I can't believe I've never seen a machine like this before in my life. It's fast... and light. Has he come to challenge Project D?"

He didn't even continue the race any further. He gathered from that run all the information he needed to crunch in his head. Pulling to a slow stop near the uphill goal, he climbed out, giving the Roadster's 1.8 a chance to cool, and himself, a moment to think. Eventually, he blurted out something to himself. "This team was named Project D for a reason, and the meaning behind the D is the reason we continue to race. However, seeing an opponent like that, here on Akagi... in such an old car like that, that isn't even domestic. Something about it tickles me silly."

He grinned as he snuffed out his cigarette, climbing back into the cockpit of his Roadster RS. "I can't wait to see him again."


	18. Chapter 16: Death of the Devil Z

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 16: Death of the Devil Z**

The three Levin enthusiasts were gathered at a booth on the upper floor of the Skylark Family Resturant in one driver's home town of Akina. The younger driver, Itsuki, was sitting side-by-side with Wataru, Kazumi set across from the two, swaying her legs a little, waiting for their order to arrive. The old tables shined with the reflections of the lights that were hung from the cieling, the sign that the place has been well-maintained over the years.

It was a busy evening, too. Only every fourth table was empty, and many people - friends, couples, familys... every seat seemed to have some kind of activity. Outside, the parking lot was packed, a pair of AE86 Levins, one natural born, and one made to be so, sat opposite to one another. It was an overcast evening, with autumn's true colors beginning to show as the wind blew the first leaves from the early-shedding diciduous trees.

Kazumi stirred the ice cube in her cup, looking back and fourth between Itsuki and Wataru. She gave her brother a light nudge, asking, in a bit of a kid-like voice, "Well, aren't you going to say anything?"

"About what?", Wataru asked, as he ;ightly rubbed the rib she just elbowed. Kazumi gave him a bit of a bitter look, feeling slightly insulted. "What do you mean, what? Don't you have anything to say to Itsuki about how things have been? You two _are_ Levin enthusiasts, right?" The two drivers looked at each other, the back to Kazumi, both giving her a a bit of a peculiar look and a faint nod.

"Well, I, uhm... to be honest, Kazumi-chan, not a lot has happened!" Itsuki replied, laughing as he shook his head. "Every day, it's pretty much been the same thing since Takumi started racing in Project D. I've been working very hard, earning money, and buying parts for my Levin. It was only recently that me and the boys threw the car back together and the Levin was reborn as a turbo AE86..."

Itsuki got this bit of a happy look on his face as he imagined the AE86 that he worked so hard on and put so much effort into, that single car of his that he wanted to buy even before he knew that Takumi had one. That little 13 year old hatchback that was just so pretty and appealing to him. His first car. The car that he was so familiar with and loved so much.

"And... I'm so happy to finally have completed the tuning of my Turbo Levin. She's a real piece of work, now. Not the fastest out there, but definately fast in her own right! And now that I've been practicing for so long, I feel I can hold my own as the Speed Stars uphill driver."

Wataru chuckled a little bit again, a little suprised to hear that line from Itsuki. "Uphill, you said?", he asked, interested to hear more about the inspiring driver's new plan. "Yeah", Itsuki replied, with a bit of a grin, "At the moment, my Levin has the best power-to-weight ratio of the Speed Stars' cars... maybe even more power per kilogram than Fujiwara's eight-six! It's only right that a car this powerful would attack the uphill!"

"I'm suprised, Itsuki", Kazumi chimed in, tilting her head just a little as she eyed him eager grin, stirring the ice cubes in her water glass. "I wouldn't expect you to drive uphill. You always talked about Takumi's insane downhill driving, but never uphill... but your engine isn't a 4A-G anymore either, is it?"

"Well, it is and it isn't... it's a 4A-GZE", Itsuki said, nodding to Kazumi. "They came factory supercharged, and mine's fitted with my old 3AC's turbo. I'm guessing she has about two hundred fifty horsepower."

Kasumi got in one last line before the waitress came with their meal. Eyes wide, she knew that was a _huge_ leap forward from the car's old horsepower rating. What wowed her more than the fact his Levin was almost as fast as Wataru's was the fact that he was even able to handle that kind of power.

"N- no way!", Kasumi gasped, in a slight state of disbelief, "That's almost as much as Wataru's supercharged 3S-GTE!"

-

As another chilly gust of fall wind blew in the Tokyo air, a single figure stood next to the panda-colored Fujiwara Tofu Shop car that was now more famous for its involvement in Project.D than it could ever hope to be just selling fried tofu to Lake Akina. "Excuse me, but I do believe I have yet to introduce myself", he said, looking at the pair of exes that seemed destined to reunite.

"Ah, oh... s- sorry, Akiyuki-san, I forgot to introduce you to Natsuki-chan." Looking at Natsuki, Takumi nodded a bit to her, giving her a bit of a casual hand gesture to introduce Suzaki. "This is Akiyuki Suzaki-san, and he's the other half of the reason why I drove out here. He wanted to schedule a meeting. I talked to him earlier, and he decided to tag along. He drives an interesting car called a Stallion-"

"Starion, Fujiwara. Starion." Chuckling, he patted Takumi on the shoulder. "Although, in a way, you're not wrong. It was supposed to be call Stallion, but the name got lost in translation. It's ironic that you called it Stallion."

"Ah, I see... gomen.", Takumi calmly replied, taking double note of the car's name.

"Ah, so you're a big shot in racing, too? Sugoi!" Natsuki's eyes practically sparkled with excitement, eyeing Suzaki's small figure. He sure didn't seem like the racer kind, but the way he talked sounded like he knew his stuff. The confidence in his voice only backed up the fact.

"Well, I guess... me and my sister own a racing operation, but aside from that, I'm not really all that well known. My racing career was short, you see, only about four years on the circuit - a bad crash caused me to not want to drive much any more... though, lately, seeing Fujiwara's driving, my spark has been slightly re-ignited, I can't deny that."

"Wow, that's pretty cool. Uhm... I've never heard about this Starion car, but since Takumi took the effort to mention it, it seems pretty fast-"

"It's an oddball car, Mogi-chan.", Takumi said. "It has an FR layout like my Trueno, but it drives completely different... it's like an alien car to me." Akiyuki nodded, adding to Takumi's statement. "The Starion is a turbo car, with a very wide, torquey, and forigving powerband. But Takumi's used to a car where part of maintaining stability is keeping on the gas. It's one of the advantages to having an underpowered car."

"On top of that", Akiyuki noted, "The horsepower and torque of the smaller naturaally aspirated 4A-G derived engine puts less of a stress on the tires overall. There are definately strong advantages to having less horsepower - especially on the downhill. The most important thing to remember about any kind of race is the key to a fast time is a matter of average speed. You can be slow in the corners and fast on the straights, or the opposite. The only problem with that theory during a multiple-car race is the fact the lead car could interfere with your overall speed based on his strengths and weaknesses... that's one of the reasons I enjoyed being a rally driver. Without another car to worry about passing or being passed by, I could focus strictly on my own lines and my average speed."

"So, in racing terms... there's a lot more to it than just holding your lead.", Natsuki slowly said, the unsued gears in her head beginning to turn. "Well, no", Akiyuki replied, with a bit of a nervous chuckle. "In most forms of motorsport, that _is_ the basic goal... however, the theories, ideologies, and techniques behind it are what make winning so complex."

"I wholeheartedly agree. Racing... is a very large and complicated world. It's almost scary, even on the street level", Fujiwara added in, catching Akiyuki off-guard. But Suzaki nodded to him, giving him a small smile. _Indeed it is, Fujiwara..._, he thought to himself.

-

Silently holding the steering wheel with both hands, Kealan stared directly at the road before him. Three seperate lanes on this wide stretch were designed with one thing in mind, suprisingly. _Capacity, and efficiency_. Well, to a street racer, it might seem suprising, anyways. To a street racer, these wide lanes were perfect for dodging around traffic at over two-hundred miles per hour... especially two-fifty plus, and nearing 300, where you felt you were about to be flung off the face of the earth. The road had a smooth surface... a few of the higher-ups in NERV, the latest research costing much less than expected, being interested in street racing (read: Katsuragi and Ibuki) had decided to invest in maintaining Tokyo's expressways to their finest.

The steering had an odd feel on some of these parts of the highway. Because of the fine surface, it didn't offer the roughness to it that other portions of the streets of Tokyo had. On the flip-side, if he wanted to have some fun sliding around, he knew he would have even smoother control on these stretches of road. The tabletop-like surface also offered less rolling resistance... which was probably why he had thoughts of reaching such a ridiculous speed as 500 km/h on this highway. If he'd have the room to. There was just one stretch where he considered trying it, but for now... 440 was his limit. 440 was _already_ stupid fast. And although Kealan doesn't nessecarily apply to this rule, 440 km/h usually equals instant death.

In the well-lit portions of the highways such as the one he was on, the evolution of the 2000GT was becoming more and more apparent. Riding just a couple of inches off the road, it had effectively lost its original dual foglamps in exchange for a swoopy front spoiler that visually melted into the widened stock fenders, side skirts that had vented openings for the brakes, and side-mounted intercoolers just fore of the shortened (but wider opening, one adds) doors. The car's overall styling much mimicked the wild GT styling of 80's cars (Such as Nissan's heavily modified R31 Skyline, or Porsche's 935 "Moby Dick"), and the look continued with a large single-piece rear wing, not excessively ginormous but enough to generate sizable downforce. Yet, elements of the 2000GT's original look were kept; The flip-up headlights, the taillights, and the basic look of the wheels, although those wheels _were_ billet-cut.

All of this turned the 2000GT into a sheer monster, from top to bottom. It was in hopes that this track-ready beast would be able to finally take on - and beat - that 240Z that Kealan had chased for so long and finally put an end to that car's practically immortal nature. He got his answer as he cruised along at 90 km/h when his mirror reflected the feint flicker of two headlights approaching... and _fast_. Kealan was in one of Neo-Tokyo's tunnels, too, so even over the loud idle growl of his wide-open four-inch exhaust system, which had almost no baffling, he heard that sound again.

_The sound of an over-stroked and over-bored L28._

It was _him_. The same Z that he had been chasing forever and a half was on his tail, again. Using the draft, the Z was able to quickly catch and slingshot past the 2000GT, challenging Sandars to a battle. Kealan was quick to respond by slamming the gas pedal down to the carbon fiber-formed floorpan, the twin turbochargerss of his 2JZ-GTE raising an audial hell in a furious jet-engined whistle. Grinning, Kaworu glanced over to the passenger's seat, his lovely wife cheering him on.

"Let's, Kealan-san!", she cried. Kealan responded with an eager vigor. "Indeed! I see you've got aero modifications too, mister Devil Z! But I know... I know something about my car that will make it infinitely better than the Z. And that is... the _true potential_ of the JZ engine!!!"

The aerodynamic downforce - even at a "mere" 175 km/h - helped keep the tires glued to the pavement under the force of the engine's torrent of torque. Turbos in full symphony, the immense heat had the exhaust manifolds glowing red-hot. However, modifications he made to the underhood venting kept the temperatures _in check_ as the car continued to gain on the Z, now passing 250 km/h... rapidly approaching 300. There was a heavy corner coming up, an off-ramp that is, and neither car seemed to want to stop as they charged in closer... _closer..._

At the last second, both cars dived down, heavy on the brakes, blowing by traffic at an _insane_ speed... to nearby traffic, that was. At these speeds, the pads clamping down on the hyper-rotating brake rotors caused so much heat, they lit up nearly white-hot at the general speed of an old incadescent light bulb. They got so hot, they even let off sparks, and the sight of these two uber-cars flying down the Tokyo expressways, seemed more like a Can-Am race than a mere Wangan assault.

Off the corner, the brake cooling vents, and blowers, on both machines allowed the rotors to instantly get down to more sensible temperatures as the engines buckled down for another heavy flat-out assault in the mid-evening traffic. Trailing easily behind the 240Z, the 2000GT tried making moves on the Devil Z, but Kealan's hand-built machine of glory just couldn't pass the uber-Z.

300... 350... 375... 400... 410... 415... The speeds were getting unhuman down the Tokyo Wangan's longest straightaway. They were running side-by-side, approaching the large, sweeping right-hand bend that was followed by a tight left-hander. Again, right at the last second, the two cars clamed down and miraculously maintained stability at a braking rate that rivaled modern Formula 1 cars. Ayrton Senna would be proud of this all-balls late braking. But at this corner, both cars intentionally fell into a drift, preparing for the next corner.

It was more or less a showy technique in a sense, but it was racer's pride between the two drivers that caused this paralell drift. For one, trying to _attempt_ something like this at _these_ speeds was reserved for those straight out of the looney bin, and to add to it, what if there was traffic? A drift isn't the easiest thing in the world to control, as one might guess. But neither driver paid much mind to it as the tires raised a cloud of smoke, both cars floored. It was the only corner on the course - and there was a history of this - that neither driver aimed strictly for speed at. But, there was a developing problem at a very basic part of both cars' workings... an issue of stress, and this recent aerodynamic modification - and the extra downward stress that came with it- on both cars was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"!?!?!?"

From the cockpit of the Devil Z, the driver gasped, eyes widening. The 2000GT... something _broke_ on the 2000GT. No... not broke... _blew_.

The 2000GT's left-rear tire shredded itself, the car immediately lurching and oversteering inward. The movement was a sign of iminent crashing... but... this close to the Fairlady Z...

His heart freezing as silver sheetmetal met midnight blue sheetmetal, for the first time in his life, Akio Asakura was consumed by fear. The 2000GT was out of control... _and it was going to take the Devil Z with it._


	19. Chapter 17: Death and Birth

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 17: Death and Birth**

Silent for one second, and then stirring the nest, was the race driver Kealan Sandars, pinched under the body of his own Toyota 2000GT. He found himself somewhat trapped as his eyes slowly opened and clarified, beginning to scan about. In every direction he looked, he saw highway littered with pieces of cars... the Z, and the GT. Fragments of torn blue sheetmetal, wires, shards of glass... even fuel, miraculously not ignited, turned the glass-smooth surface of Tokyo's Superstretch, as Kealan called it, into a car graveyard. Slowly, he pushed the remains of his 2000GT's chasis off of himself, it slamming to the ground with a hard _clang_.

"Karie! Where are you?" Kealan was somewhat cut-up looking, and his clothes were pretty torn up, but otherwise, he seemed better for the wear. He heard a soft voice to the left of him, and as he gazed over to his wife, he noticed she was also a little banged-up, but nothing substantial.

"That fucking _hurt_, dude!", Karie complained, as she began brushing what she could of the dirt off her uniform, looking a little irritated at the entire scenario. "I didn't notice a flaw in your driving, so the car is what failed, I guess... am I right?" Placing her unusually large hands on her hips, her long ears twitched, her crystal-blue eyes scanning over the large mess of scrap metal that was before them. Then she blushed a bit... noticing her top was torn enough for one of her symbols of womanhood were poking out from a hole in her shirt.

"Yeah... I lost all traction from the rear", Kealan said, with a frustrated sigh. "I may be a metallgurist in the making, but rebuilding the 2000GT by hand looks impossible. The car's a total loss." He picked up a scrap of metal, the silver on it still slightly glimmering, only small scratches on the torn sheetmetal. It could only have come from the aluminum hood, since the rest of the body was made up of either a plastic composite, a fiberglass composite, or carbon fiber.

"It's amazing that little parts can even be made out", he said, holding and examining the metal with his bare hands. Releasing his grip, the piece of scrap fell onto the pitch black pavement, amazing that not a single traffic car had appeared in the chaos of it all. His crimson eyes flickered as they slowly made their way to the obliterated S30. And, as Kealan glanced back at his wife, an interesting concept dawned on him.

"You know what these cars are missing?", he calmly asked her. Karie blinked for a second, struggling to grasp what you mean. "You mean... when they were intact, right?" Kealan nodded softly as he eyed the fragments of destroyed windows and windshield, giving a look of her that was pretty grim. "Yeah... and what they were missing is... a rollcage." Karie thought for a second... then nodded. "Yeah, we wouldn't be thrown out of our car, now would we no-"

Karie paused, her look turning from contentment and slight frustration to that of deep fear. Her eye's pupils shrinking to dots, she began to tremble. "Kealan... the Z... its driver."

"...Oh my God, you're right! I'd be really suprised if he was a human with those reaction speeds, but you never know." The two began searching around the cars, eventually coming to a stop around what was left of the front subframe of the Z, the engine still in the remains of the compartment... and the driver's body laid there, motionless on the cool pavement.

Kealan leaned in a small bit, looking at his cold, lifeless eyes. Studying his body, much damage had been done. His right arm was severed, and hanging only by skin. His leg was bent to an obscure angle. His head was partially crushed in from behind. Blood pooled around his body, his hair soaked in it. Kealan's eyes widened at the sight.

"He's young. And completely human." Karie looked to Kealan, then observed the boy with her own two eyes. "Yeah, he is." Kealan fished through his pants pocket, pulling out a small red device, that appeared to be a radio. Flipping the cover open, Kealan laughed a little. "SonuvaBITCH, thing still works. Misato can be quite the engineer." Karie looked to Kealan, cocking her eyebrow a bit. "Who you going to call?" Kealan shurgged, "Someone", he said, pointing at the late Akio Asakura. "Anyways, you should get to work. Doesn't look like there's much time left."

Karie nodded as she kneeled down before the disfigured boy, hovering two hands over his body and closing her eyes, as an astrological sign given to her at birth and symbolic of her home-planet's galaxy appeared on her forehead, glowing white, her silvery metallic hair turning to a soft and pure white, and radiating warmth.

-

Out in a town by the name of Sayama, Saitama, a young, wild appearing spikey-haired boy and his equally rebellious purple-haired girlfriend grinned as after many hours of tweaking and cranking, the engine before them fired itself to life, sitting longitudinally in its long engine compartment. The engine was turbocharged; a single-turbo unit, although the spool itself was pretty frickin' huge... figure half the size of your typical basketball. It seemed pristine. The turbocharger was fed by long-running headers that were application-built, and definately not factory stock. On the firewall were mounted three coil packs, wires trailing from them into the spark plug valley, sending extremely high voltage to the engine's six spark plugs.

The valve covers looked factory, although they were borrowed from another engine. The original cam covers remained, though, as did many of the engine's plastics. The engine seemed to match the rest of the car, which is, appearing wonderfully 1980's style. Speaking of the exterior, it was not exactly all just one car. In a sense it was, but the mid-life updates between the beginning and end of its production run... its exterior parts, were all interchangable. And parts -were- changed.

From bumper to bumper, the front bumper was definately early-gen, with a wide long center grille piece instead of a split in the middle, and the car's signature badge just aft of the hood as opposed to the factory emblem that came into play later on. The turn signals were taken from a European-market model, clear on the fender side but orange-appearing from head-on. The factory emblem on the grille was replaced with another factory badge that read "3.0 Turbo" from a later model. The side molding was flat black, and the stamped in "pinline" that ran across it was painted red. The mirrors were taken from a later-model American-market car, with an aerodynamic shape.

From the back, a spoiler was added from the later model, although the original taillights were kept. The spoiler, painted flat-black, matched the side trim, and also the hood and headlight covers, which were flat black. The rest of the sheetmetal was painted a dark gunmetal-grey metallic. The wheels were 17-inchers, sporting a clean, simple, attractive five-spoke pattern that mimiced the all-new Chevrolet C5 Corvette. Those wheels were black. Behind the wheels were yellow-and-blue bilstein shocks, with red srpings wrapped around them. Also, were slotted brake rotors that barely fitted in the wheel wells, "Wilwood" written in white text on the otherwise black, and humongous, calipers.

Aside from having different parts from different years and aftermarket wheels, the car otherwise appeared stock, for the most part. It sat almost 4" lower than its factory counterpart, giving a sleek, supercar-like stance, and overall, the theme of the car seemed to mimic the classic muscle cars of the 1960's era. One could even go far enough to say the car would look just as appropriate in Hugger Orange or Plum Crazy (Ford Motor Company and Mopar colors, respectively) as it did in gunmetal grey.

"Well, what do you think, Mitsune-san?", asked the boy, listening to the engine idle at 1,100 RPM in its rich-burning start-up mode, although he was going to eliminate that since the primary purpose of it was to ignite a catalyst within the exhaust system that no longer existed. "I think you've built a pretty twisted piece of machinery, if I do say so myself. You've done to that what I've essentially done to my beloved little 360."

"Not to be a smartass, but this engine would have to put out fifteen hundred horsepower to see the same power-to-weight ratio gains that you've achieved in that little motorcycle-powered egg", Davey replied. "And I'm probably only halfway there."

"Heh... I guess your right. My damn 360 couldn't get out of its own way at one point in time." Her bright green eyes flickered as she watched the movement of the engine's fanbelt, slightly amazed. "My old engine was also a lot simpler than this, it only had an alternator as an accessory drive. I don't have... and personally, I don't think I _need_ power steering on a car as light as mine, unlike _your_ thirty-four hundred pound tank, _Davey_", she said with a bit of a tease.

"Oh, shut up", Davey Anderson smugly replied, "This car's only this heavy because of how well she's built."

-

Another re-emerging boyfriend and girlfriend couple were sat down on her table this evening, having finished their meal. It was a pleasant at-home meal for the couple, mainly a peaceful one, although they hadn't reached the point of admitting love torward each other at this point quite yet. "I'll do the dishes!", Iketani said, showing courtesy to Mako before scooping up all the silverware and chinaware, taking it to Mako's kitchen sink, and starting to scrub away at them. Although it wasn't the most manly thing to do, Iketani considered it as a thank-you payment for the driving lessons Mako had been giving him in the past week...

..."Alright, Iketani-san! Next is the Five Hairpins! Remember, out-in-out! Wide entry, tight apex, wide exit. It's the best balance for a car like a rear-wheel drive!"

Iketani nodded to Mako, waiting until he was almost dangerously late braking in, letting off just a moment before the corner's beginning, letting the car's balance come back to him as opposed to diving in so late that he would suffer understeer. Finessing the steering wheel with the best grace that he could - which seemed to keep getting better each time he did it - he pulled off a tight apex line, flooring the gas as the tires kicked out just a tad, which was the result of deciding that if the CA18 was going to be scrapped anyways, he was going to up the ante just a bit and push the 1.8 liter four for all it was worth.

On a wide exit, the green-and-grey bumper of the Silvia nearly brushed the outside guardrail, although his corner exit timing was just a bit off. Mako studied the way he entered the corners carefully, paying close attention to his driving style. She watched his reaction to the corner's exit... and her eyes slowly widened with a realization that suddenly made perfect sense of a few things that she was trying to nitpick at for the past few days of being co-pilot.

"Iketani-san, I think I've discovered your biggest flaw.", she said, sternly, looking at him before the next corner. "My flaw? What would that be, Mako-san?", he asked back, one eye on her, the other on the road. But she didn't have time to reply as they were on top of the corner, Iketani again agressively attacking the pass, nailing the third hairpin in a decent manner. Finally, he glanced at her before the fourth Hairpin, and she simply said, "Keep going. I'll tell you when we reach the bottom."...

_Yeah, I owe her a lot for her making me completely change the way I approached the mountain passes. It's such a simple strategy but yet so easy to overlook..._, he thought, as the clean-up of their dinner was completed, Mako looking at him more than enthusiastically. "You've really been pouring a lot of effort into me, Iketani-san", she said, thinking out loud. Iketani's face lit up with redness, a little bit of shyness sneaking up on him and biting him in the ass. "Ha... have I?", he asked, eyes making direct contact. "Yeah, you've been very nice to me", she replied, trying not to choke on her own words, because only God knew hew much inner bravery it took for her to say it so directly. "It's kind of making me have feelings for you again."

"Well, maybe we should consider going on a date.", Iketani sheepishly said back to her. From there was a moment where time seemed to just stop between the two, one not sure of just how to reply to the other - on both sides. Iketani _wanted_ to simply say, 'Let's go on a date, then!', but there was an inner struggle on both sides where one felt so guilty of their past with the other that they couldn't bring their hearts to an agreement. Luckily, just as Mako's lips began to move - but no sound coming out - the house phone rang. The two stared at each other before Iketani gave a bit of a nod and rushed to pick it up.

"Yo, Iketani!", the voice said, cheerily. It was Kenji, and it looked like their solution was going to arrive in the back of the tow truck that he borrowed from Yuiichi. "I'm almost at Mako's house, I've got the engine. You wouldn't believe the price I paid for it even if I showed you it! The owner of it seemed to hate it, but it appears to be a standard Nissan engine, and according to him, it has 'high potential' that he couldn't be bothered with 'screwing with'."

"Eh? Is that so?" Iketani showed his slightly perplexed look to Mako before listening to Kenji again. "...and it's supposed to be easy to put in. I think Mako will like it, it looks kind of old-school, but it's freshly rebuilt. I wonder what its stock horsepower is."

A few minutes later, the three were standing beside the tow truck, Mako's eyes partially glittering with glee (and the rest of her wondering if this will be one of the biggest disappointments of her life). "So", Iketani went on, "It's a Nissan engine, right? You're sure it's not an SR20?" Kenji nodded. "It looks nothing like an SR20 or a CA18, and I'm dead-positive it isn't a junker US-market KA24, either." Iketani hopped on the bed of the truck, looking at the covered engine that rested in a make-shift roller crate that could easily be slid off the tow truck and lifted right up with the cherry picker. "Let's give it a look, then." Iketani slowly lifted off the tarp cover of the engine, flicking on his flashlight to see it in the darkness. The white beam exposed what the engine had to offer appearance-wise, before moving off the engine; it now barely dangled in Iketani's loose, trembling grip. "It can't be...", he slowly muttered to himself, before completely yanking the cover off and examining the engine twice, then thrice. The valve covers and some of the external parts showed their age, but Kenji confirmed the head and block were recently machined. The beam trailed off the engine again, now focused on the driveway below Kenji's feet. Mako held her breath as she made out the shocked look on her to-be boyfrend's face.

"Kenji", Iketani nearly exclaimed, in a bit of a shaky, interrogative voice, "Where the hell did you _get_ an engine like this!?"


	20. Chapter 18: Six Furious Rotors

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 18: Six Furious Rotors**

.:Day One from the Wreck of the Wangan Legends:.

Early in the morning, thoughts were scribbled onto the memo of one of Tokyo III (or Neo-Tokyo)'s well-known celebrities.

_I got a letter dropped on my doorstep from an old friend this morning. Looking out into my driveway, I couldn't believe the note was true. Something old and dear to me was there in place of my latest fun-getter. I couldn't believe it. How did he restore that magic that I had behind her wheel? Rushing to the car, I couldn't believe it._

She was exactly what I remembered before that fateful day last November. Even a few scratches from one of my infamous slight parking accidents were there. It was surreal... unbelievable. I thought the car was smashed out of existance and then burned to ashes, seeing that crazy wreck we all were in before I got thrown out of my own car...

That day changed my life. Maybe for better, maybe for worse, but I don't know at this point. Me and Rei Fukai drew very close, and close we have remained to this day. But... enemies have been made in the process. To me. To him. And I lost two comrades, whether or not I liked them didn't matter.

It was also what broke the bond between me and 'him'. We're casual acquaintances at this point, so I can't understand why he'd possibly go this far for me. After all, didn't I side with somebody he hated to the core? I guess I'm going to hop into my sweetheart and do a few hot laps around Tokyo III's city course just to see if this is truly my beloved.

Maybe I'll even go looking for Lynne Abbamonte. Me and her still have unfinished buisness. I don't exactly consider a blown intercooler pipe a win in my books. I might have pride an an ego, but it doesn't stretch -that- far. But I better hurry and go before the sun rises and traffic becomes annoying.

Setting down the paper and forgetting to write her daily signature, the girl smiled as she grabbed the set of keys that were waiting for her in the ignition earlier. Wearing her New Balance sneakers, that she only wore while driving, she strutted out to her car, caring less about the weather, or that on this unusually cold late-October morning she could see her breath. Sliding her butt into the driver's seat, the car chimed with the familiar ringer bell that she custom-installed, turning the ignition key, and just by will, the powerful, deep rumble of the American stock car-racing derived engine came alive, reverberating out the dual-exit exhaust of her wild wonderfully 80's muscle-like car.

-

Akio Asakura slowly woke up in a dark place, feeling a belt strapped across his body. The place was cool... maybe even cold, and tight. He couldn't hear much around him, but he felt rubber pressing against his face. Lifting his head up and opening his eyes, it became quickly apparent that he was in the cockpit of his car. No... wait, this wasn't his car.

"Huh?" Akio's head _ached_. He could barely think, much less figure out what the hell was going on. Last thing he remembered, he tapped the brakes going into a corner, began a slide, and then something on the chasing car broke and he was headed torwards the sound barrier on the Tokyo Wangan. Then his memory just kind of blanked out... no memory of anything remotely relating to a crash. But still, this car's interior remained intact... the Z should have been obliterated, and he should have been in pretty messed up condition.

"A Z... Z31?" It was barely light out, and he seemed to be on the top deck of some kind of parking garage. But he could make out the silver "Z" on the tan steering wheel of the car. The dashboard was blacked out... no, it was digital, just like his old Z31. _Was_ it his old car!?

Well, as the sky slowly began to brighten, the car at least _seemed_ be be like his old Z31; it had a back seat, a tan interior, and the hood was red, so likely, the exterior was, as well. Still, something about this car just didn't feel right to him. Popping open the driver's door, he got out, and took a gander at the car, and _immediately_ spotted some differences; the wide fenders, the different wheels, the lower stance.

"No, this isn't my Z. Or, at the very least, it's not my Z when I traded it in. But who knows. Maybe if..." Pulling out a pocket flashlight that he kept handy, and his wallet, the driver who was deemed "Fastest on the Tokyo Wangan" a long time ago took another look at something, just a little closer now. He pulled his old Z's registration card out of his wallet; he never saw a real reason to get rid of it, so he just kept it. But now, it served a purpose;

He shined the flashlight back and fourth between the VIN number on the car's registration and the VIN on this car. Number by number, they lined up _perfectly_.

"Jeez", Akio muttered under his breath, putting the registration away in his wallet, and then rubbing his palms together. "Sure is cold", he said, changing his course of direction and walking to the edge of the roof parking lot, eyeing over the dormant Shinjuku District of Tokyo. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shivered a little, knowing from this point on it was only going to get colder, and he'd probably soon have to put this car of his away.

He sighed a little bit, turning to face the Z31 again. "Devil Z... are you really gone for good this time?"

As he stepped torwards his old Z31, he also noticed a few other things about the car. For one, the exterior was cosmetically updated, changing from the original 1983-style two-tone to a more modern single color. The nose-piece, side moldings, mirrors, and rear taillights were all changed over to the 1987-and-up style. It looked like one of the last 300ZX Z31's produced, even though it was one of the first.

When Akio approached the car, he saw a piece of paper laying in the passenger's seat, something he'd overlooked before, hand-written in beautiful manuscript.

_The Z was a total loss, mate. Kealan couldn't  
do anything with it. However, he says he's sure  
you'll appreciate having your old car back with  
a few tweaks here and there. The accident wasn't  
your fault, so this is the least apology he can give  
to you. Oh, and by the way, when we actually do  
cross paths, you'd better thank me for bringing you  
back from the dead. Now I'm going to need some  
hardcore beauty sleep thanks to all the energy  
I spent bringing your young ass back to this world!_

-Karie Sandars

Falling silent for a while, Akio slowly meandered back over to the edge of the rooftop parking lot, looking twice at the morning sky. "So I was dead", he said, very dryly. It made sense to him; after all, he had no injuries whatsoever despite the speed they were going to crash at, but it was something a little on the hard side to swallow. Hopping over the little ledge, he dangled his legs five stories above Neo-Tokyo, his ears picking up on a unique engine sound that he never heard before.

-

Ryousuke calmly stood at the corner of a side-street in Neo-Tokyo, keeping an eye on his stopwatch. Fuhimiro was also there, as well as Takumi's mechanic, and the two Project D vans were quietly parked on the side streets. As the two cars slowly took off - one, a white early-style Mazda RX-7 FC and the other Keisuke's familiar RX-7 FD, with the R-E Amemiya body kit, they made an awkward sound that was clearly _not_ that of the 13B two-rotor... but it _was_ a rotary tune.

"It's time to see how Fujiwara can handle a high-horsepower car. In the city, the AE86 can't stand a remote chance, and the FD would be in trouble without the added displacement", Fuhimiro noted. "Fujiwara should do fine", Ryousuke replied, with a bit of a confident look on his face. "Handling the car isn't going to be the issue here... handling the speed and possible traffic will."

Watching Keisuke take off, Takumi blinked at the rear tires, which ignited into smoke for a few seconds before the car blasted off like a rocket ship. "That's... odd...", he muttered to himself as he feathered the gas pedal, still barely moving in first gear. "The rear tires broke traction on dry pavement, and without a clutch dump, and they still spun a bit in second gear." Prodding the throttle lightly, Takumi felt the engine ready to surge forward, the twin turbochargers spooling just slightly up, giving off a whistle that many American truck drivers would be familiar with.

Finally, in second gear, from about 4,000 RPM, Takumi simply _nailed it_... and gasped as the car nearly punched him back into his seat. The whole experience was disillusioning - the car's cho-agressive aerodynamic package that included a GT-style spoiler, wide fenders, and set-in headlights replacing the standard flip-up units - the unique smoothness and buzz of the three-rotor 20B Eunos Cosmo-derived, but heavily modified, engine - the immense horsepower and torque the engine provided- and Takumi was pouring all the effort he had into just banging the car from second to third to fourth gear, before seeing the narrow intersection, Keisuke's taillights disappearing before him, and trying to judge the apex of the tight corner, screwing it up almost as badly as his teammate did.

"Oh, sweet god... I thought Suzaki-san's car was powerful... but this engine... this power... it's just insane! It would be horribly impractical on the mountain!" Getting back on the throttle off exit, he had only a second to floor the car before swinging through another intersection, going wide of a traffic car. "And there's traffic on the street to deal with... the drivers from here and Tokyo race through _this_!? Are they insane!?"

Keisuke growled as he fought the power of his FD, finally getting why he couldn't access the car for a week straight; it was going through _this_. "God damn it, bro, do I really need this much power for a race? I mean, come on... this is the city, for crying out loud. I can't believe they even race through this shit! They're nuts!" The engine shreiked as Keisuke downshifted, the sound of the Single-Turbo 3-Rotor so different from his 13B-REW. He glanced to the rearview, seeing Fujiwara very far behind.

"Can't keep up yet, eh? It's understandable, Fujiwara... you're used to a low-horsepower car, and must be struggling to just get a grasp on that wild FC's nature. But that car's even crazier than mine. I've seen it built, and thought Ryousuke was doing it for a race team, but _this_... christ... I'd never have known." Coming to a fork, he lightly swerved right, seeing his rival follow. "But it looks like you're already starting to see just why I love my FD's new body." He then glanced ahead, and in the feint light of the morning, just as sunrise was about to reveal itself, he saw a feint glimmer ahead. Headlights... a car charging in at high speed. But then, the sun hit, and being blinded, Keisuke stuck to his lane; it was the only strategy he had in mind. He heard the roar of an engine, sounding like a NASCAR Winston Cup stocker, roar by at a combined speed between the cars of 400 kilometers per hour. "Jeezus", he muttered, catching only a glimpse of the driver as the red blur shot by, exhaust exiting out its sidepipes. "Car's loud."

Grinning behind the cockpit of her "Turbo Z", one of Tokyo's driving aces saw two incoming cars just as the reflection of sunlight hit her rearview. Re-adjusting it, she then was able to identify the RE-Amemiya kitted yellow beast of Keisuke Takahashi's Project.D FD. _So, you finally came here to Tokyo, eh guys? I'm suprised. You've both got guts challenging us on the entire Tokyo Ring, instead of keeping it on the Wangan_. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the cars crossed paths, the self-dubbed sexy driver giving a good eye of her possible rival, giggling, just the slightest bit.

Five seconds behind Keisuke, Takumi was finally beginning to acquire a rythm for the streets. The intersections were mostly simple enough; tackle each one the same exact way. A few traffic cars caused him to adjust his lines, but he wondered in his head why a large city like Tokyo would be so scarcely populated. Those answers were Tokyo's dark secrets, but the focus at the moment was first and foremost handling this aerodynamic beast. "I now understand what you told me about downforce", he noted to himself, "Ryousuke." Then, just before sunlight hit his eyes, He saw a glimpse of an oncoming car that seemed to be in the right-hand lane, so he adjusted his line, watching... or doing what he could to try to watch... as the driver bolted past him. "That's an interesting engine sound", he noted to himself, managing to make out the car's shape, "But what body style of car is that? It's like Suzaki-san's Starion, but different."

She then saw the white car in the fast-closing distance, blinking to herself. "Heavily modified FC? Who's _that_?", she asked herself. She'd seen a white FC before on Hakone, and knew its driver, but that _definately_ wasn't it, nor was it one of her idols, Ryousuke Takahashi's. It had a crazy body kit.

"..."

The FC blew by, her trying to catch a glimpse of the driver, and almost did, if her heart didn't stop at that moment and her driver blanked out. Her grip could strangle the steering wheel, even crush its imaginary windpipe, it was so intense. Her foot lagged off the throttle, the sidepipes letting out little flames of unburned fuel. Her mind blurred a little... before she saw the chicane, and, excuse the french, fukk'd up horribly. The car four-wheel slided to a halt in the middle of the road, the girl slowly climbing out, her legs shaking. Her voice slurred and studdered a bit, as she narrated to herself in the morning rise.

"That driver... his aura is on par with... with... Kaworu-san..." A pause. "No... maybe... even... higher."

-

Iketani held a wrench in one hand, and a handkercheif in the other, wiping sweat off his face before tucking it back into his breast pocket, giving a nod to Mako... and also Kenji and Itsuki - Itsuki having chimed in at around 10 to pull an all-nighter and see if they could actually get the BTCH running as quick as humanly possible. They slowly eased the engine into its respective spot in the bay, their next target being bolting up the transmission. Luckily, for them, the previous owner was trying to mount the engine up to an S14 chasis and transmission, so the required "adaptors" were custom-fabricated and ready to rock.

"Alright! Good!" The engine still looked considerably aged, but for what Iketani knew, it could help add to the aura of it all... an unsuspecting eye wouldn't pick up on the abnormalities of the wolf in Gazelle's clothing, not knowing that this engine was not standard Silvia equipment, per se... not S13/180SX equipment, anyways. Its blue-and-silver cam covers blended beautifully with the body of the RPS13, and Mako approved ot the looks of it.

Iketani slid under the car, taking a few minutes to bolt the engine to the engine mounts. He climbed back up, and Kenji looked at him with a bit of a curious face. "So, ready to tell us about this engine, Iketani? You seemed to almost faint when you saw it, and then your eyes really fell our of their sockets when I told you what was done to it. What's really the big deal with this engine, Iketani?"

Iketani gave off a bit of a chuckle, eyeing his three friends. "Well, alright, I'll tell you about it." "Yes, go on, senpai!", Itsuki chimed in, Iketani replying by giving off another soft laugh and patting his head. "Don't blow a head gasket just yet, Itsuki. Anyways, this engine is called the FJ20ET, and it was in an earlier Silvia model, the S12 chasis... at least, if your model year on this engine is right and the owner's claim that it was from a Silvia is true, Kenji." Kenji nodded back. "It is, Iketani, go on."

"Well, basically, the FJ20ET is the forefather of the CA and SR series of engines. But its roots go back a lot further. Back in the early 1980's, Nissan wanted to compete in Formula One very badly. In that era, turbocharged cars were beginning to completely dominate the field. However, by the time the design was ready, the FIA already instated a rule that put the Turbo F1 cars at an extreme handicap. The engine code was known as FJ15, I think. Well, whatever it was then, it eventually was reworked into a viable passenger car engine, because Nissan was sitting on an otherwise track-ready design and maybe over a billion yen worth the development money and had to do something with it." Mako asked Iketani a quick question, which made sense to her. "So, they put it into the S12 Silvia then, I guess?"

Iketani nodded. "You're partially right. Eventually, it made it to the S12 Silvia, but first, it was used in the DR30 Skyline, and it was also further bored and stroked to 2.4 liters for use in the S110 240RS Rally Car, just before all-wheel drives took control of the off-road racing game. Because of the S12's low hood and bay restrictions, the engine was modified a little when it finally made it into the S12, mainly to the intake and exhaust manifolds... much the way the AE82 Corolla Levin hatch's intake was modified for the FF layout. But, this engine had the manifolds custom-made... and this is a 2.2 liter version, slightly de-stroked and over-bored, according to the crankshaft and piston size specification. It's an odd engine... I believe given the sheet I read over, it has a rev limit of about 8,250... I'd say 8,500 but it's always good to be a little under the absolute limit. Without too many modifications, the engine should be capable of a relatively lag-free three-hundred fifty horsepower."

Mako's legs grew weak before her and Kenji's eyes widened; Itsuki merely stood there and stared at Iketani in a stupor. Kenji was finally the first to break the silence. "Nearly eight-and-a-half grand!? That's incredible for an early 1980's design!" Iketani chuckled a little bit, nodding to Kenji. "Yeah, but consider this engine was originally designed for a thousand plus horsepower and twelve thousand revs, and... suddenly, the output it's making now doesn't seem out of the ordinary." Itsuki finally slowly nodded, in slight disbelief to all this. "Yeah, this engine makes it seem like like Fujiwara's engine is a bread-and-butter family sedan engine. But his is a once-factory engine pushed to its limits and really only meant for the track. This is a pure-genious racing plant detuned to street use. It's ironic."

Mako giggled softly, finally being able to speak. "Me and you will have to make sure your SR20 project on Silvia-chan is at least this powerful." Kenji added in, "Oh, and Iketani, speaking of SR20's, there's a yard in Kyoto that's selling a Sunny GTi-R front clip for nickels and bones, you want to check it out?" Iketani scratched his chin for a second, slowly nodding. "The most powerful and reliable SR20 for nickels and bones? Count me in!" Kenji then pointed to the mostly disassembled engine bay of the Sil-Eighty, pointing at the spark plug valley, which didn't even have its coils put in place or anything.

"But first, let's finish installing this damn engine!", Kenji said, laughing a bit. The group of friends then all enjoyed a laugh, before getting back to work.


	21. Chapter 19: The Angel in Disguise

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 19: The Angel in Disguise**

A lonesome Ryousuke Takahashi sat on the roadside, leaning against his car. Eyes drifting off to the distance, he calmly exhaled, it being so cold outside that his breath was like steam. His back was rested against the pearl-white skin of his newly-acquired car, Ryousuke in no rush to go anywhere or do anything. A few cars passed by at a mild speed over the crest of the hill and down the steep-ish slope, tire tracks appearing near the bottom, and shards of broken glass, but nobody seemed to care, as they ran over the pieces and crushed them into finer and finer particles. Occasionally, a car would slow to check on what appeared to be the victim car, but just ended up driving on when the man acknowledged his condition with a subtle nod.

"It was a pretty bad miscalculation. No... not a miscalculation, a lack of information." The Roadster RS' tachometer needle lay dormant at but not a single revolution per minute to read, and the car seemed quiet... calm... perhaps, even injured. Placing one hand on the fender to ease himself up, Ryousuke slowly rose to a stand before walking muselessly to the front of his car.

"I still should have known better than this. Then again, it's suprising that this much damage occured and I was only going about 70."

The nose of the car was crumpled in, and the intercooler was also smashed completely off, the car's mild bodykit on the nose devoured by the carnage his reckless move delivered to the front end, and his nose was broken by the car's airbag deploying. The engine computer safety devices locked up the fuel pump and ignition and he couldn't reset it without a tool, so he was stranded there until help arrived. "In my FC, I would have been able to make it home already. This ECU annoys me. Maybe I'll switch to a standalone incase something like this happens by suprise again."

The blinding sunset was the culprit here. This course had sections and tree covers that blocked out daylight, causing him to have his headlights on during the run, but on top of that, there were uphill angles that put the sun directly in his eyes, forcing him to resort to gut feeling and his memory of the course map to make accurate judgements. But the one thing this road map didn't mention was how on the next-to-last corner, the uphill turned to downhill so fast that it could send a car sailing into the air if not accounted for via the use of brakes.

But then, just as he was about to find a short pier and take a long walk back into Tokyo, since his cell phone picked one of the most awesomest of times _author's note: That's an intentional misspell, ladies and gents._ to not be in service, another red Roadster RS stopped just behind Takahashi's, Ryousuke blinking to the agressively-tuned exhaust note, and more notably, its _pizza_ logo. _Another delivery kid, eh? This will help a lot._, he sarcastically thought to himself as the driver climbed out, and then his eyes really widened a bit. It was _a girl_. A charming little girl, too, who seemed to be the perfect size for the Eunos Roadster RS, as opposed to the lanky Ryousuke who seemed out of place in such a compact car.

"Something wrong, sir?", she asked, looking a little bit on the nervous side. Ryousuke nodded a little. "Yeah, I kind of busted my car a little on that hill there. The sun blinded me and it was my first time up, and the hillcrest came before I could slow down. The nose is a little crumpled, and the ECU killed the engine. The frame looks okay, though."

"Gee there, a lot of techno-whiz stuff- but yeah, that is pretty nasty. I almost made the same mistake", the girl replied, sounding a little sarcastic but it was clear that it was an attempt to cover up how oblivious she was to all the car-talk Ryousuke was babbling on about. "Well, anyway, I stopped because you drive a car just like mine, and seeing this is a rarity, since they're brand new cars. The old Roadster died. Can I call somebody for you? I have a phone, and it works..."

Ryousuke paused, his mind still stuck on the part where she said that she almost screwed up the _first_ time here. She sure didn't _look_, nor _act_ or _sound_ like a street racer, however, pause and rewind to a year and five months back, and Ryousuke saw the same situation with someone equally oblivious to their car and driving ability; **Takumi Fujiwara**. Needless to say, he had his doubts, but at the moment, his interest was slightly sparked. "Uh, sure", he replied.

"One of my friends is good at healing cars", she said with a bit of a smile. "I think he knows something about that... that UCE thing, you said?" Ryousuke tried desperately to not smack his forehead with his palm. He restrained it to a simple emotionless response. "ECU, you mean." "Right", she nodded, "The ECU. What's your name, by the way? I take it you're one of those guys who race."

Ryousuke again, calmly replied, "I race sometimes. The name's Ryousuke Takahashi." The girl canted her head to the side for a second, beginning to speak, then unconsciously starting to babble about her friends - a rare thing for her to do, but when she does it, she can't stop rambling. "I think I've heard your name before. Me and my friend go to the Shibuya 109 a lot. Her name's Kurumi, and her boyfriend - the same mechanic guy - knows a lot about cars, and he talks about these mountain guy racers. I think he's talked about you before. He showed me this place, too. It's a fun little ro-"

An old egg-shaped car screeched to a halt, startling the lady and slightly setting off Ryousuke. He was usually reserved, but that was a pretty reckless move that he pulled. The driver got out, already laughing, sneering at Ryousuke Takahashi, the man just bringing bad news with him. "Wow, talk about pathetic. So -you- were the annoying little well-heeled flea that was bogging my Europa going uphill, eh? I can't believe the famous Akagi White Comet gave up all his **mojo**. For shame. You're making your community look bad."

Ryousuke seemed slightly irritated at that gesture, looking again at the driver's car, inside, crossing that name off in his head. _That's not a Europa he's driving right now, though... but it's good I know that car's name._ "Hey", Ryousuke said, in just a slightly sharper normal tone, "What are you talking about, me giving up my so-called 'mojo'?" The second track his mind was on was still trying to decypher the car before him now. _It looks kind of like a cross between those European Porsche 911 cars, but it's too old and small-looking, I think..._

"You know what I mean. Your FC. How in God's name could you give up a fine new sports car for _this_ piece of shit?"

The girl's face was red. And not from embarassment, either.

The man went on. "Well, I can understand, though. Although your girlfriend's car is equally gay, at least you've finally found one. Eliminates all doubt in my head about your sexuality, although you shouldn't let yourself get so pussy-whipped... you pushover." Smirking, he pointed his index finger at Takahashi. "The name's Hiroki Tagawa, and I'll be seeing you around near Myogi." Brushing off all sense of hatred torwards him, he casually climbed into the cockpit of his classic-looking car and drived off. Ryousuke shook his head and sighed, knowing that trying to debate with an egotistical idiot like that would be like talking about the JGTC season with this airhead within ten feet of him. Speaking of her...

Ryousuke heard the sound of something plastic shattering. Looking around, he saw black liquid-crystal dripping from what _was_ the display of her phone, now the phone effectively crushed. Her eyes were on fire, and her fists tight and trembling. "...that about ME and MY car...", she muttered, before her piercing glare set itself on the elder Takahashi brother.

"Get in, Ryousuke!" Ryousuke, a little bit stunned by the girl's torrent of emotion that flared up into an aura perhaps stronger than Takumi's, took a half step forward, before she persisted. "Hurry up already and get in! And buckle up." She was already in the car, the engine revving as Ryousuke hurried the hell up and stumbled in, the door almost not shut before the car took off in burning rubber, spinning into a 180 before beginning to charge down Hakone's downhill.

"Understand two things", the girl said to Ryousuke, "One, I've driven here enough. And two, I'd never do this normally, but nobody will insult me or my car like that. That's obscene ignorance."

Ryousuke, holding on to his seatbelt and not having a clue just what was in store for him. "Un", he said, in a bit of a nervous nod, watching the girl assault the first corner of Hakone with a nervous depth to his eyes.

-

Speaking of the Sibuya 109, that was exactly where Takumi Fujiwara and Natsuki Mogi were heading off to. It wasn't the most pleasant of trips, though, for some reason or another. Neither of the two spoke much torwards another, and the ride there just seemed, pretty... dull. The couple didn't seem interested in sparking conversation from either side, and the fact the car's radio was off only made it worse. But at the 109, at least, they could _try_ to get along. There were people about, left and right, all shopping for one thing or another. The crowd was composed mostly of younger kids, not quite preteen, but maybe 15, 16, 17 years of age, a lot of them girls, some with boyfriends, all giggling and laughing and being wonderfully indulged in their Mommy's-credit-card-sponsored shopping sprees.

Fujiwara and Mogi seemed to be an odd couple in this crowd of "scene" kids, both dressed in rather dull apparel.

"Hey, Takumi, what exactly got you into so cars, anyway?", she asked, as they approached a food court, trying to stay optimistic.

"Not much. I just... I felt the urge to race. You remember how I used to be before my senior year.", he replied, dullly.

"Yeah, I do. Girls looked at you odd."

"Did they... do you?"

"I kind of did, but I thought you were cute in a way. That's why... you know... I stopped going out with other guys."

"I don't see what you liked in me so much, though. I'm a pretty dullard person, aside from wanting to be worthy to Ryousuke."

"Yeah... he's a pretty good driver..."

The date was beginning to go sour. Both Natsuki and Takumi looked off in different directions, not really paying much attention to each other. Takumi's eyes veered off at a water fountain in the center of the mall, and Natsuki was watching a pair of girls parapara to a video, a small crowd gathering around them.

"Oh, look!", Natsuki suddenly said, getting out of her seat as she identified the dancer. "It's Megami-san from Tokyo U! I'm going to go see her, alright? Catch you some other time!"

"Uhm... right...", Takumi muttered, watching his ex sprint off, before sighing a little.

"She says she's changed, but she's the same old Mogi underneath..."

-

Our young silver-haired warrior stood before a dimly-lit garage in a rural section of Japan. He thought he saw a car driving here, but maybe he was wrong. He tried racing up this mountain in his wife's subtle little Toyota Sera but it didn't turn out to be much of a competitor, needless to say. He saw this car pass him on the way there, and... no matter how hard he tried to make it out, he couldn't. It wasn't like the car was a blur to him, no, it was just... it couldn't stay in his memory. He couldn't pick up on its shape or anything, which was odd, given Kealan Sandars had a sniper-accurate eye for just about all cars out there.

"Didn't I see it pulling into this driveway?", the elven boy muttered. His ears twitched as he heard someone - no, two people, walking up the driveway. Arguing. His eyes seemed to decieve him... or was it really suddenly daylight out again, a warm, summertime sunset? The figures were blurry, and Kealan's mind was set in a blur, his body seemingly frozen as all he could do was witness the two faceless beings arguing.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GO OUT DRIVING AGAIN! I'VE HAD IT WITH THAT CAR OF YOURS!"

"Naki, please..."

"NO! JIRO... Oh my god, Jiro... you pour so much time and effort into that car. It's like it's got posession of you. God damn it, Jiro, there's something _wrong_ with that car! It's fast and dangerous, it 'wants' to be that way, and you just keep feeding it more horsepower! You're going to kill yourself!"

He couldn't make out facial expressions, but he could sure _hear_ them in the girl's tone of voice. And he noticed the pause, remaining still.

"...The car's just fun to drive. Ever since I put the wrench down and began working on her, she's satisfied me."

"Jiro, you're talking to the car like it's a fking living being! I didn't get engaged with you to have a machine take up more of your time than me! God... It's been five years already, and we're still living in an apartment! You keep this car here because we don't even have our own driveway and the landlord only lets you drive one car... God, you've wasted so much money... at this rate... we'll... we'll..."

Kealan watched wordlessly as the woman fell on her knees, and began to sob, although it seemed to echo. The people seemed to be moving shadows before him as the fiancee got down before her, holding a hand on her shoulder. Stephen King might disapprove of what happened next;

"Alright... I'm going to take her out for one last drive then, and then I'll park her here forever. I promise. I'll leave his car alone, and focus on you, Funaki."

Another long paused, as the woman regained her composure, and he could almost feel her beaming at her fiancee. "Alright. But, Jiro... if you touch this car again, we're through. I can't go on like this any more."

"No, tonight will be the last night, I promise. I don't benefit from racing with this car, anyways. It's not even legal on the circuits, and is only good for street racing."

"I'll let you do your drive, then... just... for this one last trip, be careful."

"I will. I promise."

He watched as the two appeared to kiss, before they both started walking off in seperate directions. The woman walked torwards the shadowy figure of an old sedan, and he was walking straight torwards Kealan. Sandars thought that the man was going to run him right over, but just as he could make out his face, and almost got walked into, he felt a cold shiver, and was able to move. Although in disbelief, it wouldn't be the _first_ time that kind of thing was used on him, but as he glanced behind him, the figure was gone.

Although what he spoke next was in Japanese, it would be 6 years later before what Kealan said next would become a pop culture mini-icon in America. Shaking his head, he muttered, "Cocaine is one hell of a drug."

Ignoring his gut feeling, he felt pulled to the garage, and for a minute or two, observed its rusty old door, and the latch handle that looked like it wasn't touched for 10 years or more. Maybe it hadn't been, for all he knew. He seemed to not have any additional strength over his once-human state, and struggled to get the latch open.

The next task was opening the garage door, and the door felt like the springs holding it shut were long removed. When he actually got the piece of shit lifted up, lo and behold, they _were_ removed. And the garage reeked of mold and mildew. It was dark... dank... glum. There was moisture everywhere. It seemed to be like walking into a small compartment of one of the more forgiving layers of Hell. And the garage's centerpiece didn't look like much, anyways. It was covered in a drab, rotted old car cover, that was coated with a thick layer of dust. He already pictured the car's rotting shell underneath, knowing that something that was old enough to be sitting here _this_ long, also added to that mid 1980's undercoating technology, surely meant a somewhat messed up body and underbody.

Regardless, he bit his lip, tugging lightly at the cover, then saying screw it and yanking the bish completely off. And _that_... is when he began to think he was seeing things. For one, a florescent light that illuminated the garage and looked like its service life was well overdue, flickered on, brightening (and exposing the awful condition of) the whole place up. The car, for one, wasn't the prettiest thing, no, but it came that way - a boring brown exterior with two-tone tan and black interior. It was a... a...

"I've heard of these, but... I don't get it. What's _with_ this car? I can't place it in my head, and there's no badging!"

The shocker was the car both looked stock from the body and was _pristine_. It practically _smelled_ new, although Kealan faintly also picked up a whiff of the essence of un-catalyzed exhaust from race gas. But he took that as just dreaming things. The car in no way, shape, or form looked anything remotely agressive. Its oddball rear hatchback and dual rectangular headlamps suggested just slight vigor, but nothing else. The wheels looked a bit wide for their age, but appeared stock. And the paint just _gleamed_ in all of its late 1970's glory. The only thing that seemed out of place were the four hoodpins holding the hood - whose cowl induction was so subtle he mistook it as stock - on. Kealan looked at the car from head-on, kneeling before it, staring its headlights down.

"Aside from being in showroom condition, I don't get it at all. Are you _really_ the car Jiro was talking about?"


	22. Chapter X03: A Blast

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter X-03 - A Blast...**

_November 17th, 1987. Neo-Tokyo, Japan._

I came here on a business trip with a couple of associates when I heard the rumor that the boys may be coming into town on a track that is currently being built somewhere in this country. I have to say, this is an interesting little place and a neat little country that has really rebuilt itself since the tragedy eight years ago. My impression of Japan and the society they run and the people they are is a lot different than what my father used to preach to me, and that's understandable. After all, in his day, this country was the enemy to us. But I'm mature enough to separate the past from the present, and times change. To add to the fact, I hands-down think the whole world needed to share some love back in 1980.

At the moment, I'm currently walking down the streets of this still being-rebuilt city, although their project here is nearly complete. It's kind of interesting that even in a country as far away as Japan, a few people were able to identify me. I'm sure it's not uncommon at all for people to mask their identity with a moustache and maybe sunglasses to go with them, but how in the devil are you supposed to make yourself less conspicuous when those glasses and moustache are your signature identity? I find it even more amazing that _anyone_ knows who I am. This isn't exactly a country fueled by big-displacement motorsports like drag racing.

My partner Rich is here with me as well, and to be honest, my good buddy is pretty enthusiastic about Buick's introduction to a "new car" here in Tokyo, of all damn places. Stepping my way down the narrow sidewalks, I had a little bit of a chat with him.

"Hey, Rich, can you tell me again why Buick's introducing a new car in Japan?"

"Well, actually, my friend... Buick isn't publicly introducing the car here, but rather, showing you exclusively what they have up their sleeves. It's the version of the car that won't see production, it's right out of GM's skunkworks, and I heard it's not even street legal."

I slowed my pace a little, taking the extra effort to stare him down, honestly a little shocked. "But what do _I_ have to do with this? Why not pull out Bobby Allison or the likes? They actually drive Buicks. Not me. What kind of marketing stunt is this?"

"To be honest, I'm not too sure myself. But I know one thing - you'll be racing this car on the streets."

"And get arrested, Rich?" I chuckled a little, knowing he was probably kidding.

"Actually, one of the higher-up city officials by the name of Gendou Ikari _wants_ someone to take down this 'Ghost Double-X' and the whole city racing world is watching."

I paused, though my feet continued carrying my 30-something year old body along. Then, I looked at him dead-on as we walked, finally making sense of just a little of this  
culture. "This ain't nothin' like my home country, is it, Rich?"

"Apparently not.", he replied, giving my shoulder a firm pat as me and him reached the final destination, a small building with the GM corporate logo painted on the door. Richard lead me into the small garage, where the car sat under a silver cover. Its body shape looked just like my Sunday ride, including the aero window, so I really didn't think it was a Buick of any sorts.

The few men who were there in the garage took immediate respect to my presence, kindly introducing me to the place and telling me about how well they've been coming along. Among the enthusiastic group of tuners was a man by the name of Reeves Callaway. Another was someone my age named John Lingenfelter. Both of them were a bit of rivals since they both got their hands dirty on some of GM's finer cars but had different ways of making power, but seeing both of them in the same room was a sight.

I wanted to see just what the whole stink was about, so I eyed the project leader, who went by the name of Bricklin. Bricklin... as in the sports car Bricklin? He looked to be about 40 or so, dressed in a bucket hat and casual shirt, knowing no sense of formality in this little buisness deal. He was the first to lead me to this car, giving me a confident grin.

"And this sir, is called Project Black Cat. It's not legal by any means, but it's what a few grease monkeys can whip up when they're bored. Feel free to eye the whole car up. She's wicked fast." He pulled off the cover of the car, and to say the least, I was suprised at what I saw. It looked like a bone stock '87 Buick Regal- No, wait, not the Regal... that Grand National car... excpet for one thing. It sported the Aero roof that made my work car so competitive. It looked... mean, and agressive. It seemed to breathe agression. And the fact the car, spare the few badges here and there, was all black-on-black, it was something I could appreciate. All in all, this car looked complete, and suited to me. I grinned, liking it. All it was possibly missing was a few Goodwrench decals, and I'd be sold.

"Wicket fast, eh?", I asked. Looking from behind, the car had two crazy-large stainless tailpipes sticking out of it. Did they shove a big block in this thing? I had to give it a look. "Pop the hood!", I said, making my way to the front of the car. When Callaway opened it, my inital reaction was one of disappointment.

Just a little V6? This car's supposed to be _fast_? Well... it did have two of those turbocharger devices. And what looked like a second radiator shoved in front of the first. Still, for a man who grew up around engines weighing more than some of these little Japanese cars, it didn't look very impressive. "Doesn't look lime much", I said plainly. Bricklin laughed a little, nodding. "Knowing from where you could come from, I can see where you're coming from, sir. But please... take this car for a spin before you make any judgements about the 3.8's potential."

"It's the new age", said Lingenfelter. "I'm not too crazy over it, but this is the new wave of technology that will permanently show huge V8's the back door. It's called turbo tuning... and once I got into it, and we tweaked the car... as we continued to build the engine to suit the turbo's needs, the potential just sky-rocketed." Callaway patted the left side turbine, then spinning the compressor blade with his finger. "Finely machined ball bearing turbos with intercooler technology and electronic engine tuning. It's rediculously expensive, but it's amazing what power you can see with this."

Okay. I'll admit it. I was slightly curious. "Well, I'll hold my opinion until I take 'er for a spin, then." Bricklin tossed me the keys as a few of the other engineering techs grew a sparkle in their eyes, and although I was calm, I sensed a whole bunch of tension, anxiety, and anticipation amongst everybody. Well, even I was a little eager... just a little. Rich looked excited, so that had to be saying something. Although I knew I'd never see this back home in my work car... this seemed like a neat little project.

So my mission became hunting down this ghost car while I cruised around on Tokyo's highways, dubbed "wangan". I didn't open her up just yet... I was waiting for this brown Toyota to appear out of nowhere. A Toyota... They make pretty interesting drag racers, them old early 70's Celicas, when guys strip 'em out and put in Boss 429's with posi-traction rears... but here in Japan, I doubt that's the way these kids run these machines. Besides, I heard this one was newer... perhaps that new Supra model? That comes with a turbo too, I think.

Well, it seemed about an hour into my ride that we'd meet face-to-face as the night wore on. It was about a quarter past midnight when I heard someone a-chargin' my way. I eased on the pedal just a little bit, and heard a whistle from under the hood that reminded me of the team transporter's semi. The car was charging in quick, and before I could even floor it, the sunovabttch was about to pass me. I grabbed for second gear and put pedal to metal, and for a second, it seemed like a little power was there... but then...

"Holy _shit!_"

_Now_ I understand what he meant! The horsepower those turbos kicked up damn near threw me into my seat, and the car leaped forward like a bat out of hell. These turbos definately gave an otherwise gutless small engine loads of power... the same kind of power and torque that I used to drive with when I was green and worthless in racing. I heard the sound of that brown car blow by, too... looked like that not-too-great looking generation of Celica, maybe a Celica Supra if they were around back then... but that thing sure didn't _sound_ like no foreign box! It was mean and rowdy, and it was pulling away on me.

Before I knew it, the engine was tach'd out, so I threw 'er into third... and seconds later, maybe 7 or so, fourth, which was the top gear. I was now in a zone of speeds much familiar to me.. and so far, the car was handling beautifully, feeling just like my weekend ride... but just a bit squirrely because of the tires and lack of a proper spoiler on the decklid. Rolling down my window, I stuck my hand out, and felt the wind draft as I tried to tail this mother. That car didn't punch much of a hole in the wind as my car did, and the draft was a little weak... but it was there.

But then we ran across a curve... and a nasty one, at that. I saw him check up, and followed suit. But it was pretty clear he'd been running this course for quite some time as he flied around it, putting easy distance on me as I finagled with the controls and got a suprising first taste of how well a live-axle car could run when tuned right. It actually wasn't half bad... felt just like a road course special, just with a lot less grip and a lot more speed. Eventually, I gained on him, it being clear that I had more power - maybe seventy-five to a hundred more horsepower. But, it looked like my luck was against me here as we approached more of these bends... his driving flat-out impressing me, the way he could shoot through the perfect groove. This game of cat-and-mouse lasted a good ten minutes, each time me falling behind just a little more. I was hoping to have an edge of course-knowledge experience for a second lap, but out of one of the tightest corners... we was just... _gone_.

Even on the longest straightaway, where I thought I'd catch up a little, I didn't see a sliver of his car. It just flat-out vanished into thin air. Did he turn off? It was odd, because I didn't see any off-ramps. But damn... I'll say something and say it clear, out-pacing a guy with this many laps under his belt - not enough to call himself an excellent wheelman, but enough to know his ropes - is a feat, especially with a low-horsepower car. I got the shaky feeling this might have been the ghost of Mark Donahue finding a new playground to mess with the minds of living boy racers, but that thought was just silly. Still... I wonder if I'll ever see that Celica or Supra again.


	23. Chapter 20: Tainted Memories

**Chapter 20 - Tainted Memories**

Ryousuke held tightly onto the grab handles of the door of a Roadster RS that was not his. He trembled at the powerful aura the girl drivign beared as they began to rocket down the downhill of Hakone, the beautiful blue eyes of the girl behind the wheel almost glowing with rage and desire, the car phasing into complete assult mode. The MX-5's 1.8 liter engine shrieked with anger as she snapped the gearshift from second to third to fourth.

Hiroki Tagawa was more than pleased to see the glimmer of the Roadster's headlights in his rear-view. Pressing the gas slowly to the floor, he grinned. This would be an interesting battle indeed. "Come and have at me already, hot shoes. I'm waiting for you." The boxer-four rumbled with a one-of-a-kind sound, pushing the egg-shaped vehicle to speed in a way the car's original flat-six couldn't. He carefully balanced the car around each corner, featheirng the gas lightly... although he was constantly fighting oversteer.

The driver of the Roadster, however, knew her car down to the core, despite having owned it for but a few months. She lightly mumbled to herself as she edged in on the car ahead. While the leader showed an acceleration edge, the Roadster was carrying an overall higher speed than the car in front. The nose of the red sportster ducked down slightly at each braking point, the driver's eyes locked onto the chrome rear bumper of the leader.

Tagawa's lips curved upward in a slight grin as the MX-5 completely closed the gap between itself and his car. He could feel the aura of its driver challenging him, the enraged woman behind the wheel revealing her colors as a driver. She was good, and he knew it. If she wasn't, he would have long vanished from her view. "You've finally come. Now, let's see if you're anything decent." The Porsche-like car quickly upped its pace, though not by much, as the Roadster driver soon found herself struggling to keep up.

"That little bastard was holding back", she growled. Upon the next corner's entry, she heel-toed on entry, shifting with precision as the Roadster's tail swung obediently out and she tailed the leader with a slight-angle drift, dialing in nearly zero countersteer. Ryousuke watched fixately on her driving ability, no longer nervous of the thought of her driving; it was clear now how skilled she was, and with each breathtaking moment, she notched herself higher and higher on Takahashi's radar.

The wheelwoman of the Roadster didn't back off or even consider dialing down as "Shimatta... the new winter tires offer a lot more feedback and give me a much better picture of what my car is doing, but at the expense of losing grip so easily... why can't there be a tire that does both!?" Ryousuke smirked slightly, listening to the woman think aloud in her seat. In his mind, he thought, _actually, there is... but they're expensive and wear fast_.

The RS driver crept slowly to the back of the car in front of her, and promptly aligned her target in her sights. It was time for some poetic justice to be served. "Menemenemenemene-_moe-joe_", she growled slightly, making a move to delay her braking point for the next corner's enterance. "I've got your mojo _right here_, motherfukker." She tapped the back-end of the lead car, not enough to damage her own ride, but enough to send the rear-engined classic into a frantic spin.

Hiroki Tagawa soon found himself at the car's whim as the rear tires' grip on the road was stolen right from them, the car throwin into an uncontrollable slide. He did everything within his power to try to keep from crashing, but it seemed futile; the car was on a one-way course off the road. Stability was zero as he continued to wrestle with the car's course, and as his uncontrollable car produced a split-second opening, the driver of the Roadster RS was able to pick a hole and shoot right through it with her convertible, narrowly missing making contact as she grinned slightly at her vengance being served; She didn't think of the possible consequences of having a price put on her head, but then again, she always was a bit... naive.

"Guess that will teach him not to run his mouth at something that he knows nothing about", the driver said, with a light smile. A few minutes later, they were at a telephone, the girl having hung up on the driver that was to come tow Takahashi's NB8C.

Ryousuke had finished his analysis of the woman. She was very young, and when not flat-out enraged, she was definately calm, quiet, and radiant of sheer innocense. Ryousuke definately thought Fujiwara in all of this, down to the way she seemed to not walk, but almost mechanically move forward, as if her only goal per step was merely to take the next pace forward. But now, in this calm, grey period between the 'battle' and the two, it was time, for the two to introduce. Ryousuke would be the ice-breaker here, too interested _not_ to not ask her name.

"Say, ma'am, just what is your name, anyways?"

The girl looked at Ryousuke oddly for a second, as if she didn't quite hear him, before blinking and giggling a bit, letting the syllables of her American name roll off her tongue. It sounded quite American, too, the way she said it. "Why, it's Isolinear Rage. I could have swore I mentioned it before, though." Head canted slightly offset from center, the girl looked just downright adorable like this.

"Unfortunately, no", Ryousuke replied. "I would have easily remembered. You're quite the driver; did you grow up on the early Eunos Roadster model?"

Iso shook her head slightly to the left, then slightly to the right. "Well, sometimes I forget. And, no. This is actually _my_ first car. I used to drive my father's a lot, though... it's a different drive-bus, so it handles a lot different."

"Drive-_train_, you mean?", Ryousuke asked back, calmly.

"Oh, yeah! That's it. Drivetrain. I think it's an AWD, since the sticker on the rear quarter-windows say 'Symmetrical AWD'. It doesn't slide as easily, either... it's quicker, but not nearly as fun as the Roadster RS. She's really light on her feet!"

"Symmetrical AWD... that's Subaru then", Ryousuke noted.

"Yeah", Iso nodded back, "My Dad's Impreza is a Subaru by all means. Says so just about everywhere."

For a second, Ryousuke thought he was in a slight time paradox. He knew damn well Takumi's father drove a blue WRX-STi Type R, but the thought of meeting someone who acted, sounded, and drove, like Takumi, who also had a father who drove the same car as Fujiwara's... was slightly painful to think about. The similarities were just overwhelming. To add to the irony, her name included 'linear' in it... suggesting to him that she may indeed be a parallel to Fujiwara, though that could all just be one giant coincidence.

"An Impreza. Switching from an AWD to a FR Roadster is quite a feat, especially since you seemed to have aced many of the car's driving fundamentals without much sweat.", Ryousuke replied, slowly taking it all in.

"The Roadster just listens to me better, and tells me more. I guess you can say me and the Impreza are mutal acquaintances and me and the Roadster are best friends", she replied, giggling.

Twenty five minutes afterward, the tow truck finally appeared, Ryousuke's white Roadster positioned bottoms-up on the back of the truck, the front wheels rolling freely. The truck itself appeared to be nothing like anything Ryousuke had witnessed before; engine protruding frontward in the cab, it was like a pickup truck... only much larger. A chrome front bumper was paired to a pair of rectangular headlights, an egg-crate grille, and a bowtie badge. Takahashi had no idea what kind of make it was.

It was also quite loud. Definately louder than a moving van; its diesel V8 producing a mechanical symphony on par with only Japan's toughest transport vehicles. Eight-lug wheels kept the chasis moving, all of them chrome, the truck detailed, and a "3500" badge was placed on the frontward lower door panel. Ryousuke canted his head to the side as the truck stopped, noting a badge written in English placed on the A-pillar; 'Cheyenne'. The truck was Corvette red, and unmarked.

The truck was definately American, and so was the driver. Wearing a large-brim hat that was a size or two larger than his head required, part of his face was kept secret. Dangling from the back of his head was a mohogany ponytail neatly braided that reached halfway down his back.

"Alrighty, Iso. I've got your bud's Roadster RS right here, and reset the engine code. Car should drive just fine as long as he does-" The boy-ish man had his attention on Iso for the time being, but when he spotted the car's driver, his attitude completely changed. "I mean, ahem, as long as you sir Ryousuke Takahashi, do not spool up. Damage is minimal,and I already swapped out that hideous steering wheel for a nice Momo one, free of charge. Call it the Good Taste discount."

"You dork; just get his car fired up already, eh?" The tow truck driver gave Iso a dumb grin. "Maybe I'll fire it down, instead", he snorted, before beginning to unhook it. Ryousuke watched the event unfold with half a smrik, amused by the driver's blissfully silly attitude. He tossed the elder Takahashi his key, before throwing a new phone Iso's way. "These things aren't cheap. Be careful with 'em, eh?"

The young Rage nodded, supressing a giggle before waving the boy off. The driver was in his truck and gone before Ryousuke could catch his name; the tow truck pulled off an impressively smoky burnout, black exhaust smoke pluming out from the truck's smoke stacks, the truck clearly dialed in for high boost and running super-rich. He turned to face Iso, blinking slightly.

"Who _is_ that guy?", Ryousuke asked - for one of the few moments in his life, actually showing a decent amount of emotion in his voice.

"Oh, don't worry about him. He's just a good friend of mine. He's a good person."

"I'll take your word for it, Isolinear-san." After another exchange of words, the two Roadsters began driving back torwards Akina.

-

Nagisa didn't quite know what to make of this situation before him; On one hand, he didn't want to come close to touching the car that he was standing in front of. He didn't know its make, model, or year. He _thought_ it was owned by some person named Jiro, but for all he knew, that flashback could have been a hallucination played as a mischevious little mind trick on Karie's part. But he already double-verified nobody was around, so that wasn't it one bit.

He did know the car had a fantastically 70's brown paint job and tan interior, and the car itself just seemed to _radiate_ 70's in its nature and form. The body shape, the liftback design, and- Oh, look! There's one identifying badge right there!

"So it's a Toyota Celica Supra..." Looking carefully at the hood emblem, he knew he'd seen it before; in a parts catalogue, though. It was a US-spec badge that the Japanese Celica XX didn't recieve.

"A '79-81 Celica Supra. Sold to the American market as Toyota's first mass-produced car to sport electronic fuel injection in its 4M-E engine. Not a very memorable Supra by any means, but the one that paved the way for the next three generations of Supra to the one produced today. 4M-E, though... heh."

Kaworu slowly began pacing around the body of the Supra, taking in every dimension of the vehicle. In his eyes, it did seem a bit odd; although the car appeared stock, was it him, or did the car seem to be unusually wide? Overall, it looked proper... but the car just seemed to bear the track of something American. Maybe it was him, though... the dimly-lit garage didn't do much to help his senses. Peering into the interior, he couldn't make too much of it, other than the fact it seemed completely stock.

He hesitantly placed his hand on the driver's door handle, unsure of whether or not to enter the car. Something just seemed to be... not right with the vehicle as a whole. He stepped back for a moment, looking at the wheels. They also appeared to be the factory-stock four-lugs. Although, the tires seemed a bit... wide.. for such an old car. Kaworu didn't know what it was, but something seemed slightly unnerving about this machine. He wasn't sure whether or not to just leave it be or investigate further. His body trembled slightly.

"I guess... I guess it's worth a look." His five outstretched fingers slowly curled around the chrome door handle and grasped its ice-cold metal, Kaworu feeling a shiver as he made first contact with the car itself. Its crosshair grille seemed to shine just a little as a fine shiver was sent up the boy's spine, Kaworu shuddering under the coldness. "This feels... so strange...", he blurted under his breath. But not to Kaworu's knowledge, things were about to get a bit stranger. He continued to tug at the door handle until the car finally obeyed his commands and the door popped open, a suggestion that the weather stripping dryrotted itself to the door lining - Kaworu disproved that with his own visual inspection; the seals were perfect. The car very faintly even gave off that new-car smell.

Biting his lip, Kaworu slowly slid himself into the ho-hum cockpit of the Supra, feeling the supportive embrace that the seats that didn't look the part provided. He felt snug, in his driver's seat, with the door open. Kaworu felt slightly dizzy sitting in the driver's compartment. Gravity seemed to be very light at the moment in time, and he felt slightly out-of-touch with the world. He was unaware of the fact that despite the car having sat there for perhaps 10 years unmaintainenced, down to the battery, its dome light faithfully cast a "welcoming" white glow throughout the cockpit... an unusually pure white, too.

His heart skipped a beat as his tender white hands grasped the tan steering wheel of the Supra. He felt the equivelant of a katana being sliced through his neck, an electric surge that was on par with something his car's ignition coil could dish out. His neck spasmed backward, and Kaworu's body uncontrollably threw him back in the seat, Kaworu's heart now frantically pacing at a mile a minute. The mental strain and emotional stress in this situation were amazing, and it was only because he could feel so many sensations, and also... the presence of another, within him.

He glanced at the door handle. At this point in time, Kaworu wanted out, and nothing more to do with this car. It didn't seem to be for him, or so Kaworu thought... But his heart pulled in another direction. He could feel... very vaugely... _emotion_, throughout the car. Hungry desire. Loneliness. Anxiety. And slight fear. He felt as if he was sitting across from someone he cared for who was suffering from hard times, or perhaps, is just climbing out of them. Half-consciously, Kaworu slammed the Supra's door shut. And then, Hell truly broke loose.

For a second, he was blinded by a bluish-white flash with brightness that made a camera bulb seem like an instrument panel display. His eyes were 'stunned', Kaworu seeing spots for a few seconds - and also feeling like a slight piece of sanity was swiped right from his mind. As he could make shapes out, it was daytime. He heard a crowd and an announcer through the windshield. Eyes darted down, and he realized he was sitting in the cockpit of a race car - or so it seemed.

In famous Petty Blue sheetmetal, Kaworu eyed the bold white lettering on the trunklid of the car before him; "_Plymouth_" was neatly printed on the lacquer paint. Where the American passenger's-side taillight would be, "43" was written. It took a few seconds for him to make out the car model; it was a Plymouth Road Runner Super Bird. His awareness spiked as his ears spontaneously picked up on the constant loudspeaker chatter, all in very Southern-sounding English.

_And finally, taking the end of the field today is one of the few Chevy drivers in the field, the #47 of Bob Burcham. This is only the second motor car race held here at Alabama International Motor Speedway and already the track has proven to easily be the fastest on the NASCAR Grand National Circuit. The new arrival of two spoiler-fitted cars by the names of Daytona and Superbird lead to an easy qualifying dominance, drivers Bobby Issac and Richard Petty, who abandoned Ford quickly upon hearing of the Superbird design, was accompanied by a lot of noise from Ford Motor Company, especially from the Wood Brothers Mercury team. It only got worse when Issac and Petty aced the rest of the field by fifteen overall miles per hour on the qualifying runs..._

Kaworu' s mind blurred again as he gripped what now felt like the rubber surface of a racing wheel. The cockpit was simplistic, sporting only a water temperature gauge, an oil pressure gauge, a tachometer, a fuel pressure gauge, and a few switches. The only thing that seemed out of place was the presence of an ignition key. His mind returned to focus when he heard the words 'national anthem' be blurted out over the loudspeaker. This strange reality was moving faster than he could follow, and before he knew it, he heard a young girl's lovely voice hitting soprano tones over the microphone.

_Oh, say, can you see,  
by the dawn's early light,  
what so proudly we hail,  
by the twilight's last gleaming_

Who's brought stripes and bright stars,  
through the perilous fight ,  
o'er the ramparts we watched,  
were so galantly streaming

And the rocket's red glare,  
the bombs bursting in air,  
gave proof through the night,  
that our flag was still there

Oh, saa-y does that star spangled  
ba-a-nner yet wa-a-ave...  
O'er the land of the free..  
and the home of the brave

Kaworu felt himself overcome by a sudden fighting, driving urge. He was focused, eyes sharp ahead. He felt the racing instinct pour back into his veins, all confusion cleared from his mind. His heart spoke in many tones, and he couldn't help fight off the anxiety that he was now also controlled by. He wanted the damn leader to move already, for the green light to flash and the cars all take off from a dead start, much to the contrary to how a Grand National race was actually initiated - by means of a pace car and the flagman waving off the green flag and the field that was previously holding a steady 60 MPH accelerate to full speed, of course.

He also caught a quick glimpse through his windshield of a World War II-style bomber with four engines flying over the speedway, apparently just slightly off-cue to the girl's finale. The announcer began speaking again, mentioning a few sponsors to the race, and some last-minute details before calling fourth another important figure to the race; the man or woman who, at least in America, spoke the four magic words to the beginning of any race.

And within a moment's time, she spoke them; **_Gentlemen... START YOUR ENGINES!_**

From mostly behind him, Kaworu heard the sounds of so many muscular V8's igniting to life and breathing healthily through straight pipes, announcing their awakening with a window-rattling roar. The image was beginning to become blurry, and Kaworu made a small declaration to himself that all of this would fade away and sanity would return by simply tweaking the small ignition key - conveniently left in its place - and listening to the sound of nothingness, assured the ill-maintained battery had zero life in it. He slowly reached for the key, and, with a twitch just before the action, twisted it to the right.

It shouldn't have happened. It couldn't have happened. It was theoretically impossible, but, behold; with only a handful of cranks with assistance from an old and noisy, grunty starter motor - much the contrary to the nearly whisper-quiet one on his garage prize - the engine announced its life with an annoyed growl, the tremendous rumble echoing off of the garage walls. Kaworu was back in the Supra, but he remained paused, in shock, and wide-eyed for a good minute as he stared at the tachometer, which was the stock Toyota unit, but reading a healthy, if slightly high, 1,500 RPM... and then slowly dying down to 1,200 as the engine's warm-up cycle neared completion.

"Son of a... bttch... this is no Supra", he shivered, as he felt like a million pounds were lifted from him, Kaworu actually 'freed' again from some kind of spiritual mind game. His first action was to grab the hood release, and so he did, suprised at the fact the move was instinctual and more suprised at the fact his hands seemed to grow eyes of their own in finding such a handle or lever in an entirely unfamiliar machine to him. He didn't hear the "pop" over the grumble of whatever alien engine had been shoehorned into the car in place of the 2.6 liter 4M-E inline-six.

Walking around the car, Kaworu again felt his hands subconsciously find the hood latch with pinpoint accuracy, and as he lifted the brown painted hood of the Celica up, he could only push it up to the point the springs held the hood on their own, and stare there in awe for a few minutes, his gaze on the twin-carburaeted engine of glory that was perhaps once from a Challenger that now found its place under this Celica Supra's hood; in proper attire with long-runner headers and a very beefy ignition coil and distributor amongst other goodies, there sat an engine Mopar-heads would die for.

A real piece of history, a 7.0 liter pushrod V8 that changed the American muscle car scene back in its heyday and was sought after by so many. A genuine 426 Race Hemi.


	24. Chapter 21: Home Team Win?

**FOREWORD: **I, HashiriyaGDB, am submitting this Initial D facfic on behalf of Midnight Dorifuta, the author of this fanfic and a fellow user on the Initial D World Forums. The only things I've done to this is correct some (if not all) the typos.

All trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

**Chapter 21: Home Team Win!?**

A group of old friends were gathered around the gleaming metallic-blue hood of a well-known loacl car, each standing close together - most with their arms crossed, some unable to sit still. The driver of the car, clad in an elegant dress, seemed ready to drive out on a date. For all she knew, she might receive her wish, but that would all depend on one lucky moment of truth to reveal itself this lonesome evening.

As she slid the silvery key into its comfortable home - the ignition switch of her beloved Sil-Eighty, of course - her heart rate spiked. Mako was unable to keep a steady hand, any more, and had to pause. A few of her friends gasped, falsely thinking the install was a no-go. Her closest friend, Iketani, took a deep breath, leaning in torwards the car, as the others whispered about. "She... won't run, right?"

"N-n-n... no..." Mako gasped, her breaths short, quick, and shallow - almost as a mighty force was pressing down on her chest, suffocating the life out of her - and her otherwise beautiful voice wavery. "I.. can't keep... steady hand... to turn... ignition on..."

Iketani was in a small state of slight disbelief. He thought _he_ was nervous, as he looked at his sweaty palms, but Mako's condition blew all that right off the map, and into next week. She looked ready to have a heart attack, the poor girl. Grinding his teeth once, Iketani slowly made his way around the opened door, the slight "ding-dong" chime early 90's Nissans were almost trademarked for lightly - ever so lightly - tormenting him. The others remained silent and motionless, although one particular female member simply went "hmph", and crossed her arms, debating whether or not she should go see a movie; she was certain when the movie ended, they'd still be at this.

But Mako's now AW-11 driving teammate was light-years away from the two re-developing love-birds as Mako felt her shaky hand being steadied by Iketani's strong and comforting grip. Iketani covered her hand with his, looking into Mako's watery eyes. "Come on", he said, with a bit of a smile. "It's alright. We did this together, right Mako-san?" Mako flashed a small and brief smile, doing her best not to implode on herself with emotion. She knew damn well what this truly meant to her - although it was a definate walk into the unknown, it was a step she wanted to take.

"Hai", she replied, in a near-whisper. Iketani's grip was the only thing keeping her hand steady as she placed her two fingers on the opposite notches of the ignition switch, her shaky leg struggling to keep the clutch pedal fully depressed. In a brief moment of panic, her left hand wriggled the shifter, making _certain_ that if the car simotaneously fired while her knee gave, she wouldn't mow down 3 of her friends., Fighting not to look away, she instantly gave the switch a good, solid twist.

"Come on... come on..." Iketani heard the whine of the old starter motor as it turned over the engine 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 times, with nothing. But, the engine started catching. First once, then twice, then three times... and then, _behold_! The engine caught and grumbled to life, its first time running under its own power in a number of years. Sayuki Kimohiro, Kenji Saotome, Itsuki Takeuchi, and of course our little 'hero' Iketani, all erupted into a collective cheer, Sayuki giggling and clapping calmly, Kenji literally yanking Iketani off Mako, and hugging him chanting "She lives, she lives!" and Iketani first being annoyed but falling into the cheer. Itsuki of course threw his damn fist as high up as he could and screamed "Kuuuuuuu!" at the top of his lungs... and Mako... well...

Tears begam streaming down Mako's cheeks upon hearing the first breaths of life from her new Sil-Eighty. It was such a sweet, blissful tone that rumbled out the car's racey exhaust pipes, and felt so good to listen to... She was swept away and crying sheer tears of joy, not knowing what else to do or say. The note also reminded her of one of her other friends, but his just wasn't nearly as wonderful as her own Sileighty-chan.

The excitement soon died down and the Silvia was left to carry out a warm-up cycle, Mako literally being helped out of the car, still wiping her eyes, thunderstruck. When the two ex-Lonely Drivers... well, one of them still single, but that was beside the point... stopped hugging each other and finally slowed down to behold the amazing mechanical cycle of the FJ20ET. Iketani and Kenji knew well enough that it was amazing that these machines, which sported over 300 working parts, even ran - much less hold up to the challenges that were, in this case, about to be thrown at it.

When Mako had all of her bearings together, Sayuki calmly marched over to her best friend and gave her a big, warm hug, patting her more emotional street-racing equivelant firmly on the shoulder, and acting quite masculine. "Now nobody can touch you...", Sayuki grinned, before pointing her index finger at her own MR2 which was slowly but surely becoming a force to be reconed with. "Except for me, of course. You can pass me, but you won't lose me once my MR2's officially a Mk. 1.5." Like a child who was lost for so long but finally found home again, Mako just eyed Sayuki and nodded, releasing a blissful sigh - before blushing. Given she tried to maintain a tough-girl image, she was embarassed to have exposed how much of a sappy case she really could be. Sayuki, noticing this, freed her embrace.

"Just don't have a car-gasm the first time you rev this thing", Sayuki teased, talking low enough so that only Mako could pick it up. And Mako's face lit up like a Roman candle upon hearing that - she was tempted to smack Sayuki, but knew her friend was just teasing. Regardless, that remark threw her emotions back together, somehow, and she just rolled her eyes and chuckled, now ready to enjoy the group's small celebration - even Itsuki was dulled down enough to fit in.

-

The blue-haired figure shivered in the late November air, knowing winter was definately on the horizon. "Burr", she muttered, shaking her body vigorously. The leg-less woman sitting next to her poked the digital figure, pulling down an eyelid childishly and sticking her tongue out for a second. "What are _you_ shaking for?", she teased. Espirit lauged for a second, before floating around to the front of Kasumi Suzaki, looking Akiyuki's injured sister eye-to-eye.

"You mean, you don't know I can feel temperatures as well as you do? It's not like I'm not _completely_ out of the loop", the digital spirit giggled. "Yeah, I guess you're right", Kasumi nodded, enchanted by just how... complete... Espirit truly was. Almost as if she once beared a human form, she thought to herself. "Say, Espirit-san, does Kira-san ever drive you the way I did?" Espirit shook her head twice, before exclaming, "No! I mean... not at all. He babies me... it's a little boring, to be honest."

"Need to go out and have a good time every now and then, eh?", the experienced ex-racer asked.

"Yeah... that's some of it. But Kira's a great guy. He loves me a lot. You would think a normal relationship would be impossible... but, we're able to enjoy ourselves. Did you know how suprised I was when you and your brother so openly accepted me for who... or rather, what, I am. You would be amazed at how low a tolerence people have for those who aren't so normal." Espirit's pearl white wings fluttered on her back, not only her body but the car itself giving off a faint glow.

"Well, just look at myself, silly. You don't see me weighed down just because I lost my legs. Sure, life isn't nearly as comfortable as it was back when I was fully mobile on my own two, but... I look at Aki (Wataru)-san and realize just what's important to me; us, as a family operation. Nobody believes just how clouded their mind can get from an actual racing career until they experience it. My days as an Indy driver had a lot of good in them, but a lot of bad, too. I missed Aki (Wataru)-san's first career start, along with his first rally victory, because I was already preoccupied with so much organized mayhem. The racing world truly is a scary place, Espirit... it can suck years from your life without you even knowing."

Espirit beared a bit of a dry smile to her newfound friend, floating behind her and locking Kasumi into a solid embrace. "I wish I could speak as vividly of my past as you... but my past is a very empty and confusing one at best. When I first met Kira-san, it was at a used car dealership of all places. I... I really didn't like being there. I mean, I know cars are built as machines and all, but... it felt like a slave trade. Most people didn't glance at me, uhm, well, me as a car anyways, twice, because I was not domestic. But Kira really had an eye for me - he liked me, and each time he touched me, it was like breathing life into me... awakening me, I guess you could say..."

"An awakening, eh? I think I understand where you're coming from." Kasumi lightly held Espirit's tender, albeit digital hand, feeling the warm softness of her skin. _It feels so real_, she thought to herself. _How can she possibly not be human? It's amazing - it continues to mystify me_. The two were also secluded in a rather remote location; a clifftop view of the Pacific Ocean about a hundred or so feet from sea level. The late afternoon phased on to early evening as the sky changed to the warm winter colors, the many varying shades of grey, blue, red, orange, and sometimes pink, mixed together in a stunning combination - something that had to be watched to truly be enjoyed.

The elder Suzaki spent this time continuing to talk conspire with the car-form teen, letting the minutes slowly roll by. And why not? Akiyuki was off somewhere in Gunma, on a "meet" with someone who she knows Suzaki is probably trying to recruit for his almost freelance race team - a team that, since there's lots of money but nothing that the money was actually spent on, save the little Suzaki Performance parts supply/Mitsubishi-Chrysler Starquest specialty stores in the United States. The more time that the two spent learning more about each other, the more they felt like they were united, despite their many differences.

Eventually, the two would find themselves sitting within Espirit's car form. In the cozy cockpit of the British-developed wedge, they were able to shield themselves from the cold weather, and just watch the multicolor sky fade slowly to darkness and the moon to take on its soft glow. Kasumi's heart fluttered. She hadn't felt this... relaxed... in ages. For once, she was in a truly comfortable environment - no buisness agenda to stick to (for now, anyway), no worrying about what time it is, or if she's missed anything, no hoardes of people to interfere... so extrodinarily different from life in New York.

As for Espirit, it felt nice to finally be with someone, knowing how much of a task Kira had upkeeping his little franchise in the city, and making sure money was gong where it needed to. Added to that was also the fact she rarely interacted with anyone aside from Kira - he was a lovable little gem, yes he was, but just _one person_? She knew him like the back of her hand to the point she could identify 5 seconds into any rant of Kira's exactly where it was heading torwards. Kira understood her perhaps a little too well, too. He remained devoted to her and her alone, not being the crazy social type anyways.

But for once, the two felt an emotional connection - they both knew it probably wouldn't go any further than friendship, especially since Espirit would put herself through a car shredder before ever considering doing the one who truly brought her back to life wrong, and Kasumi, well... Kasumi wanted friends more than anything, too. No matter what, she knew she'd end up being the financially-managing backbone to Akiyuki's mechanical genius the same way she always was. But none of that mattered at the moment as the two enjoyed one another's presence, the Espirit quietly purring to life and driving down the road. For now, it was all about the moment, and the fact that they both knew they'd meet again somewhere down the line.

-

Fujiwara tensed as he neared the beginning of the downhill start on Akina, glancing at the green sheetmetal of Suzaki's Starion from the corner of his eye. He'd been in rolling starts, but usually those begain in a follower/leader fashion. This one was different; as the AE86 and Starion neared the "start" line, marked with chaulk, Takumi knew it would be heads-up from the first second. He spared no hesitation in jabbing the gas the instant the Trueno's front tire crossed the line, the car immediately growling to life in its naturally-aspirated roar. The Starion followed suit almost immediately, with the exception that there was just a split-second's hesitation to "full" acceleration - the car's turbocharger taking the time to gather itself up before charging the ITB-feeding intake manifold with around 20 pounds per square inch of fresh air.

Suzaki's eyes of determination were conveniently concealed by the dark-tinted shield of his racing helmet, although Fujiwara's nervous stare gleamed straight through his old hatchback's windshield. He knew the start would be a horsepower game, and on Akina's long initial straight, the Starion was clearly winning. It was a few hundred pounds heavier, but 100 horsepower more powerful than the AE86, and its smooth power delivery and V8-flat torque curve didn't do much to help the Trueno's cause.

But by the first corner, things seemed to be different; as in, not entirely hopeless for Fujiwara. The Starion's driver wasn't -as- familiar with Akina as Takumi, obviously, but he had a _basic_ idea of what to do. He began braking at a _good_ point, iniated a _good_ turn-in, followed a _good_ apex, and followed through with a smooth, _good_ exit. It was Suzaki's usual 'conservative' play, pushing the Starion to 85-90, not for the sake of going light on Fujiwara, but for being aware of the fact it wasn't his home course, nor was he quite ready to risk his life again on this course, not until fifteen to twenty more solid, back-to-back runs... and maybe a few tanks of gas and a set or two of tires to go with that.

Fujiwara, on the other hand, _did_ go all-out; it was _his_ natural habit, with a _perfect_ mid-corner drift, a six-out-of-five star exit, and a line that allowed him to carry out the maximum exit speed, per usual. He didn't make up too much ground, but it was a step forward from being 5 car lengths behind at the corner enterance. Takumi kept the Trueno floored, charging full-gallop down the short-straight to the next corner. Suzaki glanced at his rear, grinning slightly just fore of the corner's enterance, admiring the fact the AE86 was keeping up. _You really are one hell of a driver, you know that, Fujiwara? I know the AE86 can be a highly competitive machine, but from almost every perspective, the Starion should stand superior. You're lighter, and smaller, though... you can take sharper lines. You also know this course, but still..._

Suzaki downshifted back to 2nd gear as his car swung around the next corner, gathering momentum once again at the earliest oppurtunity. What stood in front of them next was like a bit of a jab-chicane before another hairpin. Focused on his own driving more than anything, Akiyuki took another moment to judge how close the AE86 was to his rear bumper. Two lengths? _Still... it's difficult to imagine an AE86 keeping up with my Starion this easily. I once competed against a Turbo Levin on Tsukuba... although that track is small, it said a lot about our cars' characteristics. Maybe the Levin's driver just wasn't on Fujiwara's level. But something... something seems odd about that Trueno. Fujiwara. Do you know how amazing your performance is right now?_

Takumi was far from calm or relaxed, however. While he was keeping up, he was dialing in at least 110 to do it. _Damn it_, he grimaced, looking at the Starion's trailing headlights. _Jeezus, he's fast. I don't even have time to think about my next action - I'm driving sheerly on instinct!_ He was also aware Suzaki wasn't exactly 'holding back', but wasn't out to play cards with the devil, either. It was the "race driver" mindset that Fujiwara was familiar with that Kyoichi Sudou once demonstrated to him - fast enough to say you're trying hard, but not fast enough to put yourself at a serious risk for failure early in the run. It begged the question as they charged through the next few corners; _Does that mean Suzaki- will be faster at the end?_

Suzaki's train of thought was similar to what Takumi imagined. It was second nature of him to be conservative until the final stages, but he had an oppurtunity to easily seperate himself from the panda-colored wedge as the two cars freight-trained down another long Akina straight. 100 horsepower seemed to be the difference, Fujiwara thought from within. At 6,500 RPM, Suzaki grabbed for fourth gear. He was easily in excess of 100 miles per hour before grinding down on the brake rotors again, the inner wheels glowing brightly as the pads clamped down, the Wilwood metallic discs superheated from the friction. The 4G54 i.e. G54B was in its natural environment as the anti-lag system kicked in again, Suzaki taking another 'good' line, Fujiwara gaining precious inches through the corner before immediate no-lag boost shot the Starion through the corner exit with vigor.

_Intense_, Fujiwara thought to himself. The Starion was hard to follow, its last-second line-changes being very unorthodox to any opponent Fujiwara approached. It was like he had one strategy, but quickly switched plans just in time. It wasn't exactly the reactive driving style that he noticed in Kouichirou, but it was along the same lines. The Starion maintaining a distance from guardrail to sheetmetal of about 5 inches off the next corner's exit. They've passed the halfway mark by now, and the slopes were beginning to get a little more extreme. The Starion's power advantage would soon be dulled in this trickier section, and Suzaki knew this very well. _You're about to enter your prime, my dear rival..._, he thought, glancing at his side-view mirror. _It's time to see why you're called 'Akina's Ghost' by so many locals._

The Five Hairpins were upon them. Fujiwara's driving became even more extreme as Suzaki dialed up the agression dial on his lines. His Starion was starting to shriek around each corner as the tires were now being strained to within 1 of their maximum traction availible. Tires chirping before each corner entry, Akiyuki demonstrated the same kind of non-ABS braking skill that his opponent also posessed, but naturally Fujiwara had the edge; not only was his car a lesser mass to reduce to a halt, but he also knew the maximu, lateral traction he could obtain at each corner. Like an experienced fisher, around each tight twisting corner the AE86 reeled the green-and-black tail end of the Starion closer and closer. He knew what he had to do next. They were one corner aray the first of the famous 5 Hairpins, and Fujiwara had 4 car lengths from the Starion. He noticed Suzaki's lines were just a tad wide.

He knew what he had to do next.

Taking one of his smoothest lines yet, Fujiwara performed his 'part 2' gutter technique that he used against Ryousuke Takahashi to start gaining on the Starion, and _fast_. Suzaki wasn't watching his rear through the first and second corners, for he had his own handling issues to deal with. For some reason, the texture of the asphalt used along this .5 mile stretch of roads that ended just after the fifth Hairpin didn't agree with his tire style. Perhaps it was because the texture was more abrasived, but it was just slightly less forgving and he lost traction just a _tad_ earlier. On the Fourth hairpin, Suzaki paid a quick glance to the rearview, and was almost startled by what he said. _What!? How'd he...!_ Unlike a few other drivers, Suzaki never had the chance to witness Takumi's home-course special with his own two eyes. _That speed boost... were you holding back the entire time!? I'm already at 99.9..._

That tiny little suprise was enough to offset his concentration enough to go... just a _bit_... wide on the Fifth Hairpin, and that's _exactly_ where Fujiwara made his move. For Suzaki, he wasn't sure just what to think when the AE86 crept around the sheetmetal of his Single Overhead-cam powered wedge. Things just didn't seem to click until Fujiwara nosed ahead of him. He noticed the slight tilt to the car's composure, and then he heard the scraping of the tire against the rough concrete surface of Akina's covered drainage ditches. It all made sense. _That's it!_, Suzaki quickly realised. _He's using the gutters! After having driven all these years behind the wheel of a rally car, I've done it a few times myself, but it never helped my speed that much. But him..._ Fujiwara didn't break his concentration at the corner's exit, effectively blocking the Starion from a counterattack by squeezing in front, forcing Suzaki to lay off the gas to face getting ran into.

Takumi took a look in his rear view, now seeing the matte black paint - almost like a stealth jet - of the Starion's hood dominating most of his mirror. Akiyuki might've been passed, but he was nowhere near giving up. _I'm sorry I had to do that_, Takumi thought to himself, one eye on the two-tone Mitsubishi that followed closely now like his Trueno's own shadow, _but it was my only chance to pass, and I had to take it_. It was slightly cheap, forcing the Starion to back off, but it was still fair all the same. _Now I understand how even the White Comet of Akagi could be out-classed... you're in a rank of your own, Fujiwara. A step below a full-blown professional but well beyond most 'hobbyist' street racers._ His glare on the Trueno's decklid intensified. _However, let's see if you can hang onto this lead, Fujiwara!_ Suzaki reused to let the chance to win escape him, as the cars both rocketed down Akina's pass.

Time was running out for the Starion driver, though. Only a few corners remained, and in an instant, his line dramatically changed. He ran on the outside, looking high and low for an opening, following up on the Trueno and attempting his counterattack. But the only chance he had to lead already passed at the exit of the fifth Hairpin. Beyond that point, it was essentially futile, although Fujiwara did have to push hard to not be caught off guard down Akina's final straight. The roadway was wide, but he made his rear bumper as big as possible, swerving left and right, Suzaki being unable to advance. Two more quick corners, Fujiwara taking the far inside on the last... but wait! Suzaki had one last trick left in his bag. The final corner was easily wide for two cars, maybe even three, and Suzaki took the far outside line in a last-ditch attempt to pass. He had a bit of a nose in, and laying on the gas, he took one final chance to creep ahead of Fujiwara. Only 500 feet remained, but at this rate of progress, it was anyone's call as to who would actually 'win'.


End file.
